Wynonna Judd Reveals Mom Naomi Judd Talked About Death ‘a Lot’ Before She Died by Suicide: ‘It Was Awful’
Wynonna Judd Reveals Mom Naomi Judd Talked About Death ‘a Lot’ Before She Died by Suicide: ‘It Was Awful’
Daniela AvilaThu, October 22, 2026 at 2:05 AM UTC
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Wynonna Judd and Naomi Judd in Nashville in August 2019Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty -
Wynonna Judd revealed that Naomi Judd often told her she didn’t want to live before she died by suicide
Naomi Judd died in 2022 at age 76 after struggling with severe depression
Wynonna recently released The Hard Truth, her first album in a decade
Wynonna Judd isn’t afraid to be candid about her late mom, country star Naomi Judd.
On Thursday, Oct. 15, Wynonna went on All There Is with Anderson Cooper and opened up about her mother’s suicide in 2022. At one point in their conversation, Cooper asked the country singer if she was “surprised” by Naomi’s death — and she immediately responded “no.”
“She talked about it a lot. Even to her grandson who’s a deputy, about jumping off a bridge. She talked about it so much with me. I don’t know who else besides Ashley [Judd], but she talked about it a lot,” Wynonna, 62, said.
Wynonna also recalled telling her mom she had “too much to live for.”
“She was always watching those shows on TV about stuff like that. I just remember thinking, ‘What is she doing? I don’t understand,’” Wynonna explained. “She’d call me and say, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore.’ And I’d go over and spend the night with her. It was awful.”
The “Tell Me Why” singer continued, “She was really struggling in the end.”
Naomi died by suicide at age 76 in 2022. At the time, her daughters Ashley, 58, and Wynonna announced her death in an emotional statement.
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“Today we sisters 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,” the statement read. “We are in unknown territory.”
Naomi Judd and Wynonna Judd in New York City in May 1988Credit: Ebet Roberts/Redferns
In a cover story with PEOPLE in September, Wynonna — who recently released her first album in a decade called The Hard Truth — opened up about her relationship with her mother.
“There was a tremendous amount of love there; a lot of drama but a lot of love as well. It was definitely a paradox,” said Wynonna, who kept her mother’s severe depression largely hidden from the public for years. “My mother had an illness, she had a disease. I kept the secret, and I was devastated by that.”
On releasing the raw and emotional album, Wynonna said she felt “exhilarated and terrified.”
“I feel an awful lot like I’m walking this really thin line that you can only get away with once in your lifetime. And it’s because I’m older. I’m just starting to really come into myself in a way that I’ve never felt before. I just feel this honesty coming that helps me to, you know, propel into the next day. I just feel so free.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
