When news broke on Saturday that Naomi Judd had died, figures from across the music industry voiced their mourning of the country music legend, remembering the life of the Judd family matriarch.
Judd died at the age of 76. No cause of death was immediately given, although in a statement daughters Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd attributed their mother’s death to “the disease of mental illness.”
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy,” the statement said. “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.”
The announcement came the day before the Judds were set to be formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame at a medallion ceremony in Nashville. Representatives of the Hall of Fame could not immediately be reached for comment on whether the ceremony will be canceled or go on in some form.
Maren Morris also offered a tribute, recalling Judd’s performance of The Judds’ “Love Can Build a Bridge” at the Country Music Television Music Awards, which occurred earlier in April.
Grande Ole Opry star Bill Anderson shared a memory of his first meeting with Judd on a television game show, saying she “was one of a kind.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety