[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Wynonna Judd is getting real about her complicated feelings months after her mom Naomi Judd‘s death.
In her first interview since her mother died by suicide in April, the 58-year-old country singer opened up to CBS Sunday Morning about how she has been doing since the tragedy, revealing that she “incredibly angry” over the loss. When asked if she thinks these negative feelings would go away, she confessed:
“No, I don’t think so, not for a while.”
Related: Wynonna & Ashley Judd’s Old Feud Reignited By Mom Naomi’s Will!
Part of the reason for her anger? Wynonna shared she is enraged because she was not able to help her mom. And while The Judds star knew Naomi struggled with her mental health, she explained she did not realize her mother had gotten to such a dark place before she took her own life:
“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. 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?”
"She had incredibly great days in the middle of the dark days."
Country superstar Wynonna Judd, in her first television interview since her mother Naomi took her own life, talks about grief, going back on tour, and more with Lee Cowan this "Sunday Morning" pic.twitter.com/EAMs8epkyH
— CBS Sunday Morning ???? (@CBSSunday) September 22, 2022
As you know, Naomi had been open about her battle with depression and mental illness over the years, even detailing her struggles in her 2016 memoir River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope. But on April 30, she sadly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her home in Tennessee. Her younger daughter, Ashley Judd, was the one who discovered her body.
During the sitdown with CBS Sunday Morning, Wynonna recalled the moment she went to the house to see Naomi after her sister found her dead. She shared:
“I got the call, and I went over, and I saw her. And I said goodbye to her in the hospital and I closed her eyes, and I kissed her forehead. And that was that. And next thing I know I’m sitting here on the side porch. And I’m just trying to figure out what’s next.”
Heartbreaking…
Despite the hardship she is facing at the moment, Wynonna admitted she can still feel her mom’s presence sometimes:
“I feel her nudging me and sometimes. I laugh and sometimes I say ‘I really miss you, why aren’t you here so we can argue?’”
The iconic mother/daughter duo often had a tumultuous relationship over the years – but Wynonna said they moved past their issues before Naomi died, explaining:
“We were incredibly close, and then she’d get mad at me… and we’d not get along and be disconnected and then we’d come back together and hug and cry. It was incredibly complicated. We tried really hard and those are the tears, because I know that we tried, and we did pretty damn good. Most of the time.”
The Why Not Me artist continued:
“She told me one time, she took my hand and she said, ‘My life is better because of you.’ … Those are the memories that are starting to come through more and more. I think when you lose your mother a lot of that crap goes away. ‘Cause it doesn’t matter anymore. It just doesn’t.”
Mother Naomi and daughter Wynonna Judd were one of the most successful country music duos in history. In her first interview since the death of her mother, Wynonna talks with correspondent Lee Cowan about using music to keep grief at bay. https://t.co/vcICJPc0o5 pic.twitter.com/M2sU7ihSNv
— CBS Sunday Morning ???? (@CBSSunday) September 24, 2022
Our hearts continue to go out to the Judd family. Reactions to Wynnona’s candid interview? Let us know in the comments (below).
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
[Image via MEGA/WENN, CBS Sunday Morning/YouTube]
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