“That’s the piece of information that we are very uncomfortable sharing, but understand that we’re in a position that if we don’t say it, someone else is going to,” she told Diane Sawyer. “She obviously was suffering, and, as such, her days up until that moment were hurtful to her.” At the time of Naomi’s death, the family released a statement that said, “We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness." “When we’re talking about mental illness, it’s very important and—to be clear, and to make the distinction between our loved one and the disease,” she told Sawyer today. “It’s very real—and it’s enough to—it lies. It’s savage.” Judd said Naomi “couldn’t hang on until she was inducted into the Hall of Fame by her peers. That is the level of catastrophe of what was going on inside of her, because the barrier between the regard in which they held her couldn’t penetrate into her heart, and the lie the disease told her was so convincing.” Watch the full interview Originally reported on April 30, 2022: “Today, we sisters experienced a tragedy,” wrote Ashley Judd in a Tweet. “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 Judd was born Diana Ellen Judd on Jan.11, 1946 in Ashland, Kentucky. A struggling single parent she worked as a nurse, but left the profession in 1984 so she could focus on her music. “I was going to use my RN degree to support myself and put myself through med school,” she said in an interview with Ability Magazine. “I had this romantic notion of working with people in Appalachia, my people.” However, when she and Wynonna began working together more it was clear that performing was her path. In a career that lasted three decades The Judds had 14 No. 1 singles and many hits including “Mama He’s Crazy,” “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain,” “Love Can Build a Bridge,” “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days),” “One Man Woman,” “Why Not Me,” “Give a Little Love,” “Girls Night Out,” and “Turn It Loose.” The pair sold more than 20 million albums, won five Grammy Awards, nine Country Music Association Awards and seven awards from the Academy of Country Music. In 1991, after Naomi’s hepatitis C diagnosis, the Judds stopped performing together. However, the pair recently performed at the CMT Music Awards and they just announced their return to working together and were embarking on 10-date tour. Also, this Sunday they were going to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. “Country music will never be the same,” Tweeted Trisha Yearwood. “Country music lost a true legend…sing with the angels, Naomi!!!,” Tweeted Carrie Underwood. We’re all sending up prayers for the Judd family today.” In addition to daughters Wynonna and Ashley she is survived by husband of 32 years, singer Larry Strickland. See more celebrity tributes to Naomi Judd: https://twitter.com/Andy/status/1520513973665382400 https://twitter.com/MarenMorris/status/1520493932563484673 https://twitter.com/LoniLove/status/1520500295431639040 https://twitter.com/KChenoweth/status/1520504663061245953 https://twitter.com/CodyAlan/status/1520498736920674304 https://twitter.com/trishayearwood/status/1520552515527348224 Next, Why We Grieve Celebrities—and Why That’s Good for Our Health
