Country music legend Naomi Judd’s cause of death has reportedly been revealed to be suicide. Her family shared the news that the singer had died on Saturday at the age of 76.
The “Grandpa” hitmaker reportedly took her own life, according to multiple sources, reported People magazine in a piece published Monday.
Judd’s famous daughters, actress Ashley Judd and country singer Wynonna Judd shared the heartbreaking news Saturday that they had lost their mother to the “disease of mental illness.”
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy,” the joint message shared by both sisters on their social media accounts read. “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.”
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.
— Wynonna (@Wynonna) April 30, 2022
On Sunday, the late country star and Wynonna — the singing duo known as The Judds — were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Both daughters were at the ceremony and spoke emotionally about their mother, one day after her death.
“I didn’t prepare anything tonight because I knew mom would probably talk the most,” Wynonna shared. “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.”
WATCH:
The Judds joined the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday in a ceremony filled with tears, music and laughter, just a day after Naomi Judd died unexpectedly at age 76.
“Though my heart is broken I will continue to sing,” Wynonna Judd said. https://t.co/YPMV6zXIol pic.twitter.com/rP3Ytv7MEV
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 2, 2022
“I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today,” Ashley shared crying. “While this is so much about the Judds as a duo, I want to take a moment to recognize my sister, a GOAT.”
In 2018, Naomi talked about mental health issues in an open letter for Mental Health Awareness Week, the outlet reported.
“For everyone mourning the death of someone who committed suicide, an inevitable question arises: Why did this happen? Unfortunately, we don’t have very good answers,” the late singer shared at the time. “We do know that suicidal behavior accompanies many behavioral brain disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Suicide is actually one of the leading causes of preventable death among these mental illnesses.”
“To understand this issue better, we have to bring the study of suicide into mainstream neuroscience and treat the condition like every other brain disorder,” she added. “People who commit suicide are experiencing problems with mood, impulse control and aggression, all of which involve discrete circuits in the brain that regulate these aspects of human experience, but we still don’t understand how these circuits go haywire in the brains of suicide victims.”
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a free hotline for individuals in crisis or distress or for those looking to help someone else. It is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.