'She was fragile': Wynonna Judd says she sensed ‘something wasn’t right' weeks before mom Naomi's suicide
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: The final time Wynonna Judd and her mother, Naomi, performed together was last spring, at the CMT Awards on April 2, 2022, just a few weeks before the 76-year-old singer died by suicide. It was unlike any previous time they had shared a stage. Wynonna spoke candidly about what set that night apart from all the other occasions when the Judds singers performed their classics side by side in an interview with TODAY's Hoda Kotb for her podcast, 'Making Space with Hoda Kotb'.
Just a few weeks before her devastating 2022 suicide, Wynonna admitted she sensed "something wasn't right" with her mother. “I knew something wasn’t right in terms of her being off a little bit, a bit nervous,” the Judds performer explained. Wynonna added that she noticed the fear in her mother's mood as they sang their famous song 'Love Can Build a Bridge', saying that "She was very fragile," as reported by Page Six.
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“I think it’s because she hadn’t sung in a long time,” Wynonna continued. “And I think when our parents get older, their world gets smaller,” Wynonna continued. “And she was late (that night), and she is never late. I think she was nervous.” In addition, the 58-year-old singer was astounded by her mother's peculiar wig. “The first thought in my head was, ‘No, I don’t want to hug her or comfort her. I want to pull her wig off,'” she recalled, adding, “because that was the dynamics of our relationship. It was tough and tender.”
She continued by saying that they were both "alpha and determined" in their relationship with one another, adding that it took some time to uncover the tenderness aspect. "It was sometimes hard for me to be tender with mom, because I’m the lead singer, and I’m on my own version of life, on my own journey," Judd continued. "And I think it occurred to me, though. All of a sudden, she looked at me and blinked, and I knew then that something wasn’t right in terms of her being off a little bit, like, nervous. I softened, which I think is God’s grace. I just kind of reached out and touched her hand, like, 'I’m here. I got you. It’s OK.'" She added, "I’m glad I did that because that was the last time we performed together. I’m glad I didn’t stay stuck in my perfectionism is my point, I guess," as reported by Today.
Naomi died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound less than a month later. The 76-year-old singer had long battled depression and anxiety. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” Wynonna and her sister, actress Ashley Judd, announced in a statement following her death. “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.”