Wynonna and Ashley Judd have paid a tearful tribute to their mother, Naomi Judd, who sadly passed away over the weekend at 76.
The pair spoke out on Sunday evening in the CMA Theater in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Naomi had made up one half of the country music duo the Judds with her daughter Wynonna.
Following the death of Naomi on Saturday, the Hall of Fame had announced that the already planned ceremony would continue due to the wishes of the family. Naomi is suspected of taking her own life after years of suffering from depression.
Wynonna and Ashley Judd fought back tears while speaking about their mom
A tearful Ashley Judd told the audience: “My momma loved you so much… I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today.” She continued by stating that “your regard and your esteem for her had really penetrated her heart.”
When Wynonna spoke, she joked that she hadn’t prepared much by way of a speech noting that she had expected her mom to do most of the talking. She said: “I’m gonna make this fast because my heart’s broken, and I feel so blessed. It’s a very strange dynamic to be this broken and this blessed. … Though my heart’s broken, I will continue to sing because that’s what we do.”
There was a bit more humor in the emotional address when Ashley referred to her sister as the “G.O.A.T.” (Greatest Of All Time) and Wynonna pretended not to know what the acronym meant.
According to the Tennessean, Wynonna also gave some more details about her mother’s death; she said Naomi had died at 2:20pm (April 30) and that she kissed her mother “on the forehead and walked away.”
Wynonna Judd also said that family members had recited the 23rd Psalm from the Bible, and the audience on Sunday did the same.
It’s unclear exactly how Naomi died, but the family did cite her mental issue, which she had been suffering from for years. According to TMZ, the singer had no known ailments and had been fully expected to attend the induction ceremony.
Ashley Judd said they lost Naomi Judd to ‘mental illness’
Ashely Judd announced the death of her mother on Instagram with a brief statement.
Ashley wrote: “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
Rest in peace, Naomi Judd.