Radar Online
Country star Naomi Judd has died at 76-years-old.
The Kentucky native was known for being a member of the beloved, Grammy Award winning country duo The Judds.
Naomi's daughters, Ashley and Wynonna Judd, confirmed the singer's tragic passing in a statement shared to the Associated Press on Saturday, April 30.
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement read. “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 Reveals Daughter Wynonna's Shocking BETRAYAL During Depression Battle
Although it has not been confirmed Naomi took her own life, only that she died due to “mental illness”, Radar previously reported she had opened up on her years-long struggles with depression in her 2016 memoir, River of Time.
In an excerpt of the shocking tell-all, the singer detailed a period in her life when she contemplated death by suicide. Naomi explained she had made the decision to throw herself off of the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge in Nashville, Tennessee in 2013.
“I knew exactly how I was going to carry out my suicide. I would drive my car to the very center, the highest point, and in one swift motion open the car door and climb over the railing,” she penned the heartbreaking confessional. “I'd keep my focus on the beauty of the surrounding countryside, spread my arms out, and step off.”
The Judds — a mother/daughter duo featuring Naomi and Wynonna — first shot to fame in 1983, and despite a period of estrangement, their careers seemed to be back on track. The country group not only announced a brand new tour scheduled for this Fall, but the duo was also scheduled to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday, April 30 — the day of Naomi's shocking passing.
