Wynonna Judd Opens up About Her Grief Work in Wake of Mom Naomi’s Death

Wynonna Judd is actively working on her mental health as it pertains to processing the death of her mother, Naomi Judd. Naomi died by suicide on April 30 in a tragic passing that sent the country music world into mourning and sparked a heated court battle. Through it all, Wynonna has pushed forward, continuing the tour she and Naomi had planned to do together and instead turning it into a giant celebration of The Judds’ music. As part of this tour, Wynonna appeared at an Oct. 26 press conference at Fox & Locke in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee, in promotion of the upcoming CMT special The Judds: Love Is Alive – The Final Concert. During the public appearance, a fan shared his own story of losing a parent to suicide, and the country music legend opened up about her grieving process.

“Don’t forget to do your grief work,” Wynonna advised after hearing the fan’s story. “I did my grief work this afternoon. People ask me what I’m doing, and I say, ‘On a good day, I reach out for help. On a bad day, I reach out for help.’ Because I can’t do this by myself. I tried and I don’t think it works. And so I’m trying it differently.”

She also applauded the general process of recovery, noting, “We’re all recovering from something.”

Wynonna also that part of her grieving process plays out on stage each night. She openly admitted she has some complicated feelings about her mom that remain unresolved and still come to mind when she steps on stage. “When you’re grieving you go from hell to hallelujah really fast,” she noted. However, she isn’t afraid to embrace her grief mid-show, as fans who’ve seen this Judds tour will know.

“I talk about her in a way that people understand,” she noted. “They know my sign language, my short(hand). For instance, I’ll say stuff to her, and I look up a lot ’cause I talk to her a lot, and she’s on the stage. There are things that you’ll see during the show where you go, ‘That makes sense,’ and it’s been a really interesting deal to try to incorporate her, but to also live in the moment and look to the future. To visit the past, like a scrapbook, and say something to her like, ‘Why aren’t you here?’ And you can hear audience members gasp because they know I’m talking to her and I’m living my life in the public eye through this grief. So I’m talking to her, and I’m saying things like, ‘I don’t understand why.’”

Wynonna will continue the Judds tour into 2023. Artists including Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Ashley McBryde and Brandi Carlile will join her as she continues to honor her and Naomi’s legacy as one of country music’s most iconic duos.