Naomi Judd was a country music singer and songwriter who formed the popular duo, The Judds, with her daughter Wynonna Judd.
She was born in Ashland, Kentucky and learned she was pregnant with Wynonna at age 17, giving birth two weeks before her high school graduation ceremony.
After her marriage disintegrated, Naomi enrolled in nursing school in Berea, Kentucky, and moved herself and her daughters to the tiny nearby community of Morrill.
The Judds’ “overnight success” came after several years of struggle and sacrifice.
Naomi embodied the role of country music’s “mother” and helped to expand it.
She was a single working mom who did her best for her kids in times of backwoods and big-city deprivation alike, and a showbiz mom who never lost sight of grander ambitions.
She put herself through nursing school and put a guitar in Wynonna’s hands.
If the Judds had been a father-and-son unit, their interactions might’ve been spun as male bonding, a rite of passage to be respected, but Naomi and Wynonna often navigated extremes, any discord in their relationship either politely overlooked or, more likely, made the subject of dishy fascination.
In the years before her death, Naomi was candid about her battle with suicidal ideation, panic attacks and the ups and downs of her mental health struggles.
She struggled with severe depression, which eventually led her to advocate for others with mental health issues.
Naomi and Wynonna had a strained relationship at some points, but they went through a lot of therapy together.
By 2021, it appears the relationship had somewhat mended as they helped to care for Ashley Judd, who was in an accident in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Naomi Judd, of the Grammy-winning country duo The Judds and the mother of Wynonna and Ashley Judd, died on Saturday. She was 76.
Her death came one day before The Judds were set to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. https://t.co/LNeyDGLhV0 pic.twitter.com/ttkAlHDktj
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 30, 2022
Naomi Judd death
The country music legend, died on April 30, 2022, at the age of 76.
Naomi’s death was initially reported by her family as being caused by mental illness, not suicide.
However, an autopsy report released on August 26, 2022, confirmed that Naomi died by suicide with her daughter, Ashley, revealing that she used a firearm to take her own life.
Ashley also shared that she found her mother’s body and that the experience left her with both grief and trauma.
Naomi’s suicide note, which was allegedly obtained from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office in Franklin, Tennessee, revealed that she did not want her daughter Wynonna to attend her funeral.
This was because she believed that Wynonna was mentally ill.
The Judd family has been highly critical of potential media coverage of their family tragedy.
Naomi Judd death photos
As mentioned above, Naomi’s manner of death has been ruled a suicide, according to her autopsy report.
The report also states that “a weapon and a note with suicidal connotations were found near the decedent at the scene”.
Her daughter confirmed that her mother shot herself and that she was the one who discovered her deceased.
Images allegedly obtained from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office in Franklin, Tennessee, reveal photos of the crime scene, including what appears to be Naomi’s blood-splattered bed and a gun on a bedside table.
The Judd family has been highly critical of potential media coverage of their family tragedy and has filed lawsuits to try to stop the public release of police images showing Naomi’s death and to seal the report of the investigation.
They dropped a lawsuit in December 2022 that they filed to try to stop the public release of police images showing Naomi’s death and to seal the report of the investigation.