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'Mama I don't understand': Wynonna Judd pays heartbreaking tribute to mom Naomi at CMT awards

Late Naomi Judd was reportedly struggling with mental anxieties, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts before she died

AUSTIN, TEXAS: The audience is signing up for an emotional roller-coaster ride while watching the 2023 CMT Awards. While on the one hand, Kelsea Ballerini is making her relationship’s red carpet debut, on the other hand, Wynonna Judd is paying tear-jerking tribute to her late mother Naomi Judd while performing on stage.

During her performance of Foreigner's ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ with Ashley McBryde at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, the Country Hall of Famer paid a moving tribute to her mother who was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in April 2022. In the middle of the performance, ‘Love Can Build a Bridge’ star pointed up and said, "Mama, you need to be here.” before adding, "I miss you, and I love you, and I don't understand.”

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How did Naomi die?

‘The Judds’ member Wynonna made a name for herself along with her mother Naomi in the 1980s. In 2022, the Judds sisters, Ashley and Wynonna lost their mother to a very sad incident. Naomi took her life on April 30 when she was 76 years old. She was reportedly struggling with mental anxieties, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts. To battle her depression, she was prescribed lithium which produced side effects including edema and alopecia which ultimately aggravated her depression. 

“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 confirmed the news on her Twitter. 

Following her mother's death, Wynonna has often shared posts on Twitter, remembering her mother. On May 8, tweeting a photo of Naomi with the two sisters, the country star shared, "I miss her."

'The Final Tour'

In May, she announced 'The Final Tour' of 'The Judds' which would be 'In celebration of the Life and Legacy of Naomi Judd'. The 58-year-old singer then took to Twitter to announce the tour, "It may look a little different now, but we WILL continue to honor The Judds’ legacy! It’s amazing to me, all of the artists who have come forward offering their time and their gifts. I am feeling so grateful."

Before the tour commenced in October 2022, Wynonna said to PEOPLE, "Am I going to go home and just get depressed and down, and stay stuck in that? I signed on for this tour because it's like, 'I gotta do something.'"

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in January, Wyninna revealed that she wrote a new song called 'Broken and Blessed' for the second leg of the tour. "I just wrote a song called 'Broken and Blessed,' and that's how I feel on this tour," she said before adding, "'I'm somewhere between hell and hallelujah' is one of the lines in it."

At the conclusion of the tour in February, Wynonna tweeted, "It's done, Mama. Thank you to the fans for lifting me up each night, to every single artist that showed up and offered their voice, to the best band I've ever toured with, & to the crew who worked around the clock to make all of this happen. I will never ever forget this tour!"