Wynonna Judd Reacts To CMA Awards Concern: 'I Could Cry Right Now'

Singer Wynonna Judd is letting fans know that she is okay after her performance at the CMA Awards started going viral on Wednesday night, with many expressing concern for her health.

The country music legend, who was formerly known for her role in the country music duo known as The Judds with her late mother Naomi Judd, joined performer Jelly Roll on stage for a performance to open the awards show. However, while the two sang the rapper’s hit single, “Need A Favor,” Wynonna could be seen clutching Jelly Roll’s arm.

Many fans took to Instagram and X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to express their concerns about her performance and her health, as many of her followers commented that she looked less comfortable than she usually does on stage.

It seems that Wynonna Judd is aware of the comments that are being said about her online. After the show, she took to Instagram to address concerns that she was in poor health. The video was made on a plane from Nashville to Texas, as she assured fans that she would still be performing in the Lone Star state.

On early Thursday morning, the “No One Else on Earth” singer said, “Okay, so they say don’t read the comments [but] I’ve read the comments and I’m just gonna come clean with y’all. I was so freaking nervous. I got out there and I looked at Jelly Roll [and] I wanted it to be so good for him,” she confessed.

She described her nerves before the show began, saying, “I could cry right now, but I’m not going to, because I’m such a fan of his and he asked me to sing and I said absolutely.”

Fortunately for fans, she let them know that she was gripping onto him because she was so nervous, not because she was in poor health. “I got out there and I was so nervous that I just held on for dear life,” she said. “And that’s the bottom line.”

She ended the video by letting her fans know that she was still going to make her Texas show on Thursday night, which is part of her Back to Wy tour. This tour focuses on her first two solo albums: Wynonna and Tell Me Why.

“I’ll be on stage tomorrow night with the people I love the most, and with you, the fans I love the most,” she concluded, adding, “And all is well.”

Many fans were surprised to see that Wynonna was nervous about her performance, as she told People magazine back in August that performing live is “one of [her] absolute favorite things to do.”

"Coming out of The Judds tribute tour, for me, it was time to get back to the intimacy again. It's years celebrating not only being in country music for 40 years but me as a soloist — I have so much to celebrate,” she said at the time.

Wynonna Judd and Naomi Judd performed as The Judds for years before Naomi took her own life a year and a half ago. However, Wynonna has been keeping her side projects going for decades. Her first solo album was released in 1992. It was such a success that she followed it up with another one in 1993.

Although she is proud of her solo career, she compared it to “feeling all the feelings that one feels when you move away from home and go to college.”

"You're out on your own and all of a sudden you don't have the comforts of home. I went through that professionally as well as personally,” she said, admitting that she had put a lot of pressure on herself to “prove” that she could make it as an artist without her mother’s support.

"Now I don't have that kind of pressure. I don't have that on myself,” Wynonna added. “I just want to enjoy myself and enjoy it with the fans because they're my family. Especially now that Mom is gone, I rely on the fans more than ever."