Wynonna Judd and her mother Naomi were a very popular and successful singing duo. Hits like "Love Can Build a Bridge" established the pair as country music royalty. However, there was intense heartache behind the scenes. On April 30, 2022, Naomi apparently took her own life at the age of 76. The massive shock waves rippled throughout the country music community. Understandably, Wynonna Judd took her mom's passing extremely hard. Now she is talking publicly about that wretched and indelible day that changed her own life forever.
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"I Just Didn't Expect That"
Wynonna Judd was a guest on The Shawn Ryan Show recently. She revisited that day in vivid detail when she spoke with him. You can sense the horror and grief that Wynonna must have experienced. The singer recalled, "I got a phone call around 11 AM from our life coach saying I need for you to come to your mother's right away. and I knew something was wrong. I just didn't expect that. and I pulled up to the house, and it's just like the movies."
She raced into the house, past all the commotion - caution tape, an ambulance, police cars. In fact, Wynonna could hardly catch her breath; she was in a frenzy of fear and alarm. Nevertheless, Naomi Judd was stretched out prone on the floor. Life-saving measures were being taken like CPR, according to Wynonna. Then Naomi was placed in the waiting ambulance and whisked off to the hospital. After a while. someone told Wynonna the bad news of her mother;s death.
Everything Unfolded Fast After That
She remembered having to be questioned at the police station and a "cleanup team" working at Naomi's home. Then it was back to the hospital to be with her deceased mother.. Wynonna Judd said to Shawn Ryan, "And Ashley went to her feet, and I went to her upper body, and I saw everything, graphic, you know, visuals. And couldn't believe it...And I closed her eyes, and I kissed her on her forehead and I said, 'I love you, mom.' And I left."
There was an aura of unreality. She confided to Shawn Ryan, "It's hard to believe that this stuff can happen to you. It happens to other people, it happens in the movies, but it doesn't happen to you."
Although the tragedy was so fresh, the very next day, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Wynonna Judd said with steely resolve, "I was not gonna miss out on my destiny. That's the only thing that kept me going, and I did it. I showed up."
