Naomi Judd, one-half of the iconic country music duo The Judds, reportedly died by suicide after years of struggling with mental illness.
Naomi’s daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, said they lost their mom to “the disease of mental illness” in a statement released on Saturday.
On Monday, multiple sources told People that the 76-year-old country music icon had killed herself. No further details were provided.
The Post has reached out for comment from representatives of the singers.
Larry Strickland, Naomi’s husband of 32 years, had also previously made a statement. “Naomi Judd’s family request privacy during this heartbreaking time. No additional information will be released at this time,” he said.
Naomi, 54, and Wynonna, 57, were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday.
“I didn’t prepare anything tonight because I knew mom would probably talk the most,” a tearful Wynonna told the audience at the Nashville ceremony. “I’m gonna make this fast, because my heart’s broken, and I feel so blessed. It’s a very strange dynamic, to be this broken and this blessed.”
Naomi Judd died Saturday at age 76.Getty “I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today,” a crying Ashley said, adding, “While this is so much about the Judds as a duo, I want to take a moment to recognize my sister, a GOAT.”
Earlier last month, Naomi and Wynonna had announced they would reunite for a celebratory final tour that was set to launch in September.
“Though my heart is broken, I will continue to sing,” Wynonna said on Sunday.
Naomi had been candid about her mental health struggles in the past. In 2016, she revealed her battles with “extreme” and “severe depression” that left her housebound on “Good Morning America.”
“[Fans] see me in rhinestones, you know, with glitter in my hair, that really is who I am,” she told anchor Robin Roberts at the time. “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.”
“When I came off the tour, I went into this deep, dark, absolutely terrifying hole and I couldn’t get out,” she continued. “I spent two years on my couch.” The country icon further shared that she had considered taking her own life at a bridge near her farm.
In 2016, Naomi wrote a book, titled “River of Time: My Descent Into Depression and How I Emerged With Hope,” to go public with her diagnosis and to let people know that mental illness is “not a character flaw, it’s a stinking disease.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
