Singer Naomi Judd Has Died at 76, Daughters Say

Naomi Judd, the Grammy-winning country singer of duo The Judds and mother of Wynonna and Ashley Judd, has died. She was 76.

Actress daughter Ashley, 54, and her singing sister Wynonna, 57, put out a joint statement confirming their mother’s death.

“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement said. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”

They did not elaborate further.

The Judds were set to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday.

The mother-daughter performers—who had 14 No.1 hits together—had just announced an arena tour to begin in the fall, their first tour together in over a decade.

The pair called it quits in 1991 after doctors diagnosed Naomi Judd with hepatitis.

Prior to that, The Judds had already won five Grammy Awards for their music. Naomi was also a songwriter and won a Grammy for country song of the year for The Judds’ hit Love Can Build a Bridge.

Making the announcement earlier this month about a farewell tour, Naomi said she was looking forward to getting back out on the road as The Judds.

“The fans have always been my family of choice. I love them dearly, so I’m chompin’ at the bit to belt out our hits and reconnect with them once again. The cherry on top is singing with my beloved, wild and extremely talented daughter… the best singer of any genre, Wynonna!” she said in a statement. “She asked me if I was still going to twist, twirl and crack jokes. I answered, ‘Heck yeah! I’m too old to grow up now!’”

In 2016, Naomi revealed that she battled severe depression and anxiety since she and Wynonna had stopped touring as The Judds in 2011.

“[Fans] see me in rhinestones, you know, with glitter in my hair, that really is who I am,” she said. “But then I would come home and not leave the house for three weeks, and not get out of my pajamas, and not practice normal hygiene. It was really bad.”