On April 11, 2022, country music songbird Naomi Judd took the stage for the last time. Her daughter Wynonna, whom she successfully performed alongside as The Judds in the ’80s and early ’90s, stood by her side. The Judds performed their 1990 farewell hit “Love Can Build a Bridge.”
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Tragically, just 11 days later, on April 22, Nashville reeled from the news that 76-year-old Naomi Judd had died by suicide at her Tennessee home. On this day (Jan. 11), we remember the flame-haired firebrand on what would have been her 80th birthday.
Naomi Judd Was Always a Fighter
Born Diana Ellen Judd in Ashland, Kentucky, she raised two daughters, Wynonna and Ashley Judd, largely on her own.
Following her divorce, she legally changed her name to Naomi Judd in the ’70s, feeling that the biblical story of Naomi better reflected “her own spiritual, rural Kentucky conception of her true heritage.” To support her family, she earned her nursing degree while working a variety of other jobs.
Early on, her oldest daughter, Wynonna displayed a passion for music, which annoyed her mother until she realized just how beautifully the two sang harmony together. With that, they formed their mother-daughter duo, The Judds. Their debut single, “Had a Dream (For the Heart),” climbed to the Top 20 in 1983.
[RELATED: The Universal Meaning and “Farewell” Behind The Judds’ 1990 Hit “Love Can Build a Bridge”]
Contrary to what Naomi often heard from country music executives, listeners had an appetite for The Judds’ bluesy harmonies and lyrical odes to rural, working-class women. Their 1984 debut album, Why Not Me, produced three No. 1 singles—the title track, “Girls Night Out,” and “Love Is Alive.”
After racking up a staggering 14 No. 1 hits in just five years, The Judds disbanded in 1991. Personality clashes between mother and daughter, combined with Naomi’s health struggles, had rendered the situation untenable.
Regardless, Naomi seemed to fully support her older daughter in her bid for a solo career. Wynonna Judd, now 61, would go on to release three multi-platinum albums and five No. 1 solo hits.
The Judds’ Emotional Country Music Hall of Fame Induction
A day after Naomi Judd’s death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, her daughters stood side by side onstage as the Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“Though my heart is broken, I will continue to sing,” Wynonna said.
Featured image by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images
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