Multi-award-winning American country music songstress Wynonna Judd is paying homage to her deceased mother Naomi Judd‘s memory by going on with their previous plans for The Judds tour.
The Judds is a duo group comprising the country-pop vocalist and her talented mom. They were widely acclaimed in the 1980s and received over sixty industry awards during their reign.
The band had a couple of splits and comebacks over the years, but unfortunately, the older Judd died last month. In her honor, Wynonna recently assured fans of the continuation of their highly anticipated tour.
Wynonna Judd Says Her Late Mother Would Want Her To Continue With The Judds Tour
During the broadcast of the “Naomi Judd: ‘A River Of Time’ Celebration” program on May 15, the “I Saw the Light” soloist shared the news of The Judd Tour’s continuance, noting how much she missed her mom.
As you may know, Wynonna and Naomi announced the tour a couple of months ago, prior to the late singer’s death late last month.
According to Just Jared, after performing “The Rose” with Brandi Carlile, the 57-year-old gave a moving speech about the ‘Naomi Judd’ program, calling it a celebration while also expressing her distress. She said:
“I lived my life publicly since I was 17, so it feels natural to be with my family of choice. Tonight is a celebration. And at the same time, I can’t put into words how devastating.”
Wynonna confessed that the show was the first place she had been publicly after saying goodbye to her beloved mother several weeks ago.
She also detailed her farewell, saying she kissed Naomi on the forehead and noting that the late star’s eyebrows were “still perfect.”
The deceased country star was not comparable to anyone in their family, and Wynonna missed the legend “a lot” as she once believed she could not live without her mother.
Despite Naomi’s death, the “To Be Loved by You” vocalist promised to continue singing and made the decision to honor her mom with the tour because that was what her fans would want.
She recalled her mother saying, “Give them what they want. Not what you want,” hence her proclamation that the tour would go on as planned.
“We will show up together,” Wynonna stated to her fans, adding, “And you will carry me as you carried me for 38 years, once again. Because I honestly didn’t think I could do it.” She concluded her speech with:
“I didn’t know if I could go on without her. Life is so strange, it’s so devastatingly beautiful what happened here tonight, so we will continue. That’s what she would want.”
The “No One Else on Earth” songstress’ heartfelt speech came days after she and her half-sister Ashley Judd announced the death of their mother in a statement reported by The Blast.
Based on the outlet’s report, the message read, “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered.”
The sisters added, “We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
Naomi’s husband of thirty-two years, Larry Strickland, also released a statement at the time, imploring the public for privacy as the family mourned their devastating loss.
Speaking of the late country music legend’s mental illness, one of the Judd sisters recently talked about the cause of their mom’s heartbreaking death, attaching the incident to a self-inflicted firearm injury.
The “Wynonna & The Big Noise” Star’s Half-Sister Reveals The Cause Of Their Mother’s Death
In a recent report by The Blast, Wynonna’s half-sibling appeared on “Good Morning America” where she talked with Diane Sawyer about Naomi’s passing.
Ashley told the presenter that her family was uncomfortable sharing the information that her late mom used a weapon, particularly a firearm, to kill herself.
She further mentioned that she was driven to discuss her mother’s death to emphasize the importance of mental health. She also said it was essential to differentiate between the loved one and the condition when discussing mental illness.
Ashely said her mother knew that she was seen and heard in her despair and “walked home,” but unfortunately, that could not keep the mental battles at bay.
Naomi was in such a bad shape that she could not “hang on” till she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as she took her own life just a day before the induction ceremony.
