‘Not supposed to be like this.’ Wynonna Judd speaks about Naomi Judd’s death ahead of tour

Country singer Wynonna Judd spoke out for the first time since the death of her mother, Naomi Judd, on CBS Sunday Morning.

Wynonna and Naomi Judd, best known as The Judds, were one of the most successful country music duos in history, selling more than 20 million albums. In April, just a day before they were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Naomi Judd, who battled depression, took her own life. They performed together the last time at the CMT Country Music Awards in April 2022.

“I did not know that she was at the place she was at when she ended it because she had had episodes before and she got better,” Wynonna Judd said in an interview with Lee Cowan. “And that’s what I live in, is like, ‘Was there anything I should have looked for or should I have known?’ I didn’t. That’s why it’s such a shock.”

During the interview at her home in Nashville, Judd recalled memories of her mother, and their relationship.

“There is nothing like family harmony, but sometimes the only harmony we had was through our music,” Judd said. “We were so close, but then I would get mad at her, and we would not get along and be disconnected. Then we would come back and hug and cry. It was complicated. … We did pretty damn good, most of the time.”

She told Cowan she is still angry about the death of her mother, but good memories are coming through more and more.

“When you lose your mother, that crap goes away, because it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t,” Judd said.

Judd’s interview comes nearly a month after her actress sister, Ashley Judd, published a tell-all essay about her mother and the impact her death had.

The award-winning country music singer said she and her sister had become “more united” since the death of their mother, more so than in a long time.

She plans to continue The Judds’ plans to perform a reunion tour which was announced just weeks before Naomi Judd died. The tour is scheduled to begin later this week on Sept. 30 in Michigan.

“I feel like I have my marching orders,” she said. “I am going to walk out on stage and I am going to say, ‘It is not supposed to be like this,’ because it is not. It is supposed to be the two of us. I am going to be angry, because she is not there.”

Her hope is to help someone in the audience feel better.

“I am going to sing from my toenails a song that helps someone out in that audience,” Judd told Cowan. “I am singing to help someone feel better. That is always in my spirit.”