Wynonna Judd honored her late mother Naomi Judd on what would have been Naomi’s 80th birthday with a moving Instagram post that revealed the depth of her ongoing grief and love.
At a Glance
- Wynonna posted a photo kissing Naomi’s cheek on January 11, the day Naomi would have turned 80
- Naomi died by suicide on April 30, 2022, at age 76, after battling suicidal depression
- Wynonna wrote “I still feel her everywhere” and asked, “Why aren’t you here?”
- The tribute noted Naomi has two great-granddaughters she never met
- Why it matters: The post shows how a legendary country family continues to process a very public loss three years later
On January 11, Wynonna, 66, uploaded a candid shot of herself kissing her mother on the cheek. The caption opened with a simple statement: “She would have been 80 today. I still feel her everywhere.” The singer then added a line that underscored the family milestones Naomi missed: “She has 2 beautiful GREAT granddaughters we could be celebrating with.” The caption ended with a raw question: “Why aren’t you here? I love you, Mom. 🤍”
Naomi’s Death and Its Impact
Naomi Judd, one half of the Grammy-winning mother-daughter duo The Judds alongside Wynonna, died by suicide on April 30, 2022, at 76. Wynonna and her younger sister, actress Ashley Judd, 57, announced the news in a joint statement obtained by News Of Losangeles. Ashley later reposted the statement on her own Instagram.
“Today we sisters experience a tragedy,” the statement read. “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. We are in unknown territory.”
Naomi had spoken openly about her mental-health battles. In her 2016 memoir River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope, she detailed living with suicidal depression. During a News Of Losangeles interview tied to the book, she offered a stark analogy: “Think of your very worst day of your whole life – someone passed away, you lost your job, you found out you were being betrayed, that your child had a rare disease – you can take all of those at once and put them together and that’s what depression feels like.”
Family Bonds After Loss
In a 2022 interview with TODAY, Wynonna said the tragedy drew the sisters nearer. “Ashley and I are closer than we’ve been in a long time… We love each other, and we show up for each other,” she said. “We don’t agree on much, but we support one another.”
Ahead of the April 2025 premiere of the Lifetime docuseries The Judd Family: Truth Be Told, Naomi’s widower, Larry Strickland, told News Of Losangeles that her death compelled the family to come together. “They were forced together,” Strickland said. “We all had to come together around this trauma, this tragic event. And it, of course, opened our eyes about how short life can be and how fleeting. Realizing that we lost a wife and mother, it forced us to be together, whether we wanted to or not. It just really drove me closer to them because they’re what’s left of [Naomi].”
The Judds dominated country charts in the 1980s with 14 No. 1 singles and five Grammy wins. After Naomi’s retirement in 1991 due to hepatitis C, Wynonna launched a successful solo career while the duo occasionally reunited for tours, including their 2015 “Girls Night Out” residency in Las Vegas.
Key Takeaways
- Wynonna’s January 11 Instagram post marks the third birthday since Naomi’s death
- Naomi’s candid discussions about depression helped reduce stigma around mental illness
- The surviving Judds have used interviews and now a docuseries to share their healing process
- Great-granddaughters Naomi never met serve as living reminders of time lost
