Sources Confirm Naomi Judd Died by Suicide After Years of Struggling with Mental Health

On Saturday, Wynonna and Ashely Judd announced their mother Naomi Judd had passed away at the age of 76.

A statement put out by Naomi’s Daughters read, “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. 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. – Wynonna and Ashley”

This tragic news came the day before Naomi was to be inducted as a member of ‘The Judds’ into the Country Music Hall of Fame and sources confirmed to ‘People’ that the singer did in fact take her own life.

This statement had led many to speculate that Naomi had taken her own life, something she had talked about struggling with in the past. The family had asked for privacy and announced: “no additional information will be released at the time.”

In 2016, Naomi released a book, ‘River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope‘ and it detailed her struggle with suicidal depression.

Naomi and her daughter Wynonna made up the Grammy award-winning duo ‘The Judds’. The pair had been on the country music scene since the 80s. They stopped touring together about a decade ago but had recently announced an arena tour that was set to take place this fall. The duo also performed together for the first time in a while at the Country Music Awards earlier last month, singing “Love Can Build a Bridge”.

Yesterday, Naomi’s daughters took to the stage at Nashville’s CMA Theater for the induction ceremony.

Ashley Judd addressed the audience with tears saying, “My momma loved you so much, and she appreciated your love for her, I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today. Your esteem for her and your regard for her really penetrated her heart, and it was your affection for her that did keep her going these last years and please come see pop please do come see him.”

Wynonna told the audience, “I didn’t prepare anything tonight because I knew mom would probably talk the most. I’m gonna make this fast because my heart’s broken… and I feel so blessed and it’s a very strange dynamic to be this broken and this blessed”. Wynonna also recited Psalm 23 at the ceremony in memory of their mother.

Below is a video of Ashley and Wynonna at the Country Music Hall of Fame ceremony: