Grammy-winning country music singer Naomi Judd passed away on Saturday at 76-years-old, according to a statement from her family.
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” Judd’s daughters, Wynonna and Ashley Judd, said in a statement. “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.”
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.
— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) April 30, 2022
Naomi Judd, who was a singer in The Judds, was set to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday and had recently announced an upcoming tour that was going to start in the fall.
“The mother-daughter performers scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades,” the Associated Press reported. “After rising to the top of country music, they called it quits in 1991 after doctors diagnosed Naomi Judd with hepatitis.”
The Judds had 14 songs reach number one on the Billboard Top 10 and they “swept the CMA’s Vocal Group/Duo category from 1985 to 1991 and garnered six GRAMMY Awards,” Judd’s website says.
In a 2017 NBC News op-ed, Judd wrote about her struggle with depression and encouraged those who struggle with it to talk to people they trust and seek help.
“These days I’m working with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital to try to reduce stigma and get the word out about treatment for mental illness,” Judd wrote. “So I know now that there are almost 44 million people in America that experience mental illness in a given year.”
“If you’ve got a pulse, then you’re fighting some battle, whether it’s a diagnosis of depression, like 16 million people, or one of anxiety, like 42 million people, or something else,” she added. “And there’s power in numbers: it means that there are other people. You’re not alone.”
A flurry of responses flooded Twitter following the news of Judd’s passing, including Grammy Award-Winner Singer Travis Tritt, who wrote: “This is heartbreaking news! Naomi Judd was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known. I had the honor of working with her in movies and numerous musical events. My deepest heartfelt condolences go out to her family.”
“I had the honor of meeting Naomi Judd years ago and she was so incredibly kind,” actress Kristin Chenoweth tweeted. “Sending love and prayers to Wynonna, Ashley, and the whole Judd family during this time. I never thought she’d go.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.