Country superstar Keith Urban celebrated the life and lyrics of Naomi Judd during a Tuesday night (May 3) concert at O2 Apollo Manchester in the U.K. by covering one of The Judds' signature songs, "Love Can Build a Bridge."
The matriarch of the Judd family died on Saturday (April 30) at age 76: one day before the mother-daughter duo of Naomi and Wynonna Judd was enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
"Naomi Judd sowed so many important seeds in her precious time here. Here's one of the many," Urban wrote on social media. "On the other side of the world in Manchester tonight they were all singing 'Love Can Build A Bridge.' Thank you Naomi. We love you."
Naomi co-wrote "Love Can Build a Bridge" with John Barlow Jarvis (co-writer of Vince Gill's Grammy Award-winner "I Still Believe in You") and Paul Overstreet (co-writer of Randy Travis' "Forever and Ever, Amen"). It became The Judds' final Top 5 country single in 1991 and served as a thank you and farewell to fans following Naomi's 1990 announcement that she would soon retire from the music business because of a Hepatitis C diagnosis.
Notable performances of the song by The Judds include a reunion for the 1994 Super Bowl halftime show and an emotional return to the national spotlight during the 2022 CMT Music Awards (which aired April 11 on CBS). The latter marked the duo's first awards show appearance in over 20 years.
Per the Judd family's request, the Country Music Hall of Fame's medallion ceremony was held on Sunday (May 1) as scheduled. Wynonna and her half-sister Ashley Judd appeared at the Hall of Fame's CMA Theater in Nashville, Tenn. and spoke on behalf of their mother.
The Judds were inducted alongside country-soul pioneer Ray Charles, steel guitar innovator Pete Drake and the session drummer on numerous Judds recordings, Eddie Bayers.
