Wynonna Judd gave a candid interview about life after losing her mother and duo partner Naomi Judd, who died unexpectedly earlier this year. It was Wynonna’s first interview since her mother’s death, meeting with Lee Cowan of CBS Sunday Morning.
Wynonna and her sister, actress Ashley Judd, announced in a heartbreaking statement on April 30 that they’d “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.” Naomi, part of the beloved duo The Judds with Wynonna, was 76. She died one day before The Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“I did not know that she was at the place she was at when she ended it,” Wynonna reflected in the interview, “because she had had episodes before and she got better. And that’s what I live in, is like, was there anything I should have looked for or should I’ve known? I didn’t.”
Later in her conversation with Cowan, Wynonna shared that she’s “incredibly angry” as she navigates life without her mom. But she still feels her presence: “I feel her nudging me, and sometimes I laugh, and sometimes I say, ‘I really miss you. Why aren’t you here, so we can argue?’ She told me one time, she took my hand and she said, ‘my life is better because of you.’ Those are the memories that are starting to come through more and more. I think when you lose your mother, a lot of that crap goes away because it doesn’t matter anymore. It just doesn’t.”
Wynonna is getting ready to start “The Final Tour,” which was supposed to be a reunion tour with Naomi. The Judds made the announcement shortly before Naomi died in April. Wynonna said she has “no idea” what to expect, but believes it’s “important” to go on the tour in her mom’s honor.
“As I walk out on stage that first night, I’ll probably say something like, ‘it’s not supposed to be like this,’ because it’s not, right, it’s supposed to be the two of us. And I’m going to be angry because she’s not there,” Wynonna said. She aims to take the stage with the intention of “singing to help someone feel better. That’s always in my spirit.”
Watch Wyonna’s interview below.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide or is in emotional distress, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.