Naomi Judd‘s sudden passing left the country music world reeling just one day before she was set to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The 76-year-old’s daughters, Ashley and Wynonna Judd, confirmed their mother’s death in a statement on May 1. It 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.”
Summoning admirable courage, Ashley and Wynonna attended the Hall of Fame ceremony, where Wynonna and Naomi were set to be inducted for their duo, The Judds.
The sisters were visibly – and understandably – shaken at the ceremony, but managed to keep it together, with Wynonna explaining that she hadn’t planned a speech because she thought her mother was going to do the bulk of the talking.
“I didn’t prepare anything tonight because I knew mom would probably talk the most,” she said.
“I’m gonna make this fast, because my heart’s broken, and I feel so blessed. It’s a very strange dynamic, to be this broken and this blessed.”
Ashley, meanwhile, told the audience: “My mama loved you so much — and 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 in the last years, and please come see Pop.”
Though a cause of death for Naomi Judd has not yet been officially given, Ashley and Wynonna stated that her passing was linked to her mental health. PEOPLE cite multiple sources in stating that the singer died by suicide.
Naomi spoke often and openly about the struggles she faced, revealing in 2016 that she rarely left her home because of depression.
At the time, she explained: “[Fans] see me in rhinestones, you know, with glitter in my hair, that really is who I am. But then I would come home and not leave the house for three weeks, and not get out of my pajamas, and not practice normal hygiene. It was really bad. When I came off the tour, I went into this deep, dark, absolutely terrifying hole and I couldn’t get out.”
As well as sharing her own experiences and battles, Naomi was also a staunch advocate for mental wellness. In 2018, she wrote an open letter for Mental Health Awareness Week that was published by PEOPLE.
Her letter read: “For everyone mourning the death of someone who committed suicide, an inevitable question arises: Why did this happen? Unfortunately, we don’t have very good answers,” wrote the musician at the time. “We do know that suicidal behavior accompanies many behavioral brain disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Suicide is actually one of the leading causes of preventable death among these mental illnesses.”
It continued: “To understand this issue better, we have to bring the study of suicide into mainstream neuroscience and treat the condition like every other brain disorder.
“People who commit suicide are experiencing problems with mood, impulse control and aggression, all of which involve discrete circuits in the brain that regulate these aspects of human experience, but we still don’t understand how these circuits go haywire in the brains of suicide victims.”
A statement released by Naomi’s husband of 32 years, Larry Strickland, reads: “Naomi Judd’s family request privacy during this heartbreaking time. No additional information will be released at this time.”
The world is surely a worse place for having lost such a beautiful soul as Naomi Judd. Mental health really is one of the most important aspects of our daily lives, and something that we should all do more to take care of.
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