Wynonna Judd Explains How She & Sister Ashley Grew Closer After Mom Naomi’s Death
on Jan 26, 2023 • Updated Aug 18, 2023
Wynonna and Ashley Judd have put up a united front ever since their mother, Naomi, passed away in April 2022.
The Judds were set to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame the day after Naomi’s death. Wynonna and Ashley attended the ceremony together, and paid tribute to their mother while they were there.
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Since then, the Judd sisters have continued to express their support for each other.
Ashley was a guest on the Healing with David Kessler podcast in July 2022. During her appearance, she spoke about how she, Wynonna, and their stepfather Larry Strickland have grieved in different ways since Naomi died.
“One of the things that I think we have done well as a family, meaning my pop, my sister Wynonna and me, is we have really given each other the dignity and the allowance to grieve in our individual and respective ways,” Ashley said. “And yet we’ve been able to completely stick together. So we can be at the same supper table and recognize, ‘Oh, this one’s in anger, this one’s in denial, this one’s in bargaining, this one’s in acceptance, I’m in shock right now.'”
At that time, Ashley said Wynonna just spent the night at her house the day before:
“Sister came over yesterday and spent the day with me and spent the night and we talked about mom, we talked about social issues,” Ashley shared. “She gave me a foot rub and she’s in a pretty different place than I am right now. And we don’t have to be congruent in order to have compassion for each other and I think that that’s a really important grace that family members can hopefully learn to give each other.”
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More recently, Wynonna opened up to Entertainment Tonight about her relationship with Ashley. She said they’ve grown closer since their mother passed away:
“We have one of the most difficult conversations we’ve ever had. And we got through it. And nobody was hurt,” Wynonna said. “And I thought it’s a remarkable thing to have someone in your life that you’re so different from but that you can meet somewhere in the middle about. That’s what peace talk is, and that’s what we’re doing, and it works. When you work it and you’re worth it.”
Wynonna finds comfort through her music and performing on tour. She shared some beautiful performances during her mother’s memorial service, and you can watch one of those performances below.
Wynonna, Ashley, and Larry remain in our prayers. Naomi is so dearly missed…
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