Country legend Naomi Judd took her own life on Saturday following a longtime battle with mental illness at 76 years old, multiple sources told People.
A rep for Judd did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Naomi’s daughters, Ashley Judd and Wynonna Judd, announced their mother’s death in an emotional statement this weekend.
“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,” the statement read. “We are in unknown territory.”
Naomi’s husband of 32 years, Larry Strickland, added in a statement of his own, “Naomi Judd’s family request privacy during this heartbreaking time. No additional information will be released at this time.”
Naomi Judd spoke out about her battle with depression repeatedly in the years prior to her death.NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal viaNaomi’s daughters broke down in tears as they inducted their late mother into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Wynonna, 57, and Ashley, 54, appeared on stage at the awards show in Nashville just one day after their mother died because The Judds — Naomi and Wynonna’s mom-and-daughter music duo — had been honored with a spot on the list.
“My mama loved you so much,” a tearful Ashley told the audience, “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,” she continued, “and it was your affection for her that did keep her going in the last years.”
Naomi had been open about her mental health struggles. During an interview on “Good Morning America” in 2016, the singer said that she had been facing “extreme” and “severe depression” that forced her into reclusion. She explained that her condition worsened after she and Wynonna stopped touring as The Judds in 2011.
Naomi’s famous daughters, Ashley and Wynonna Judd, have also talked openly about their own mental health challenges. Getty Images“[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,” she told Robin Roberts.
Naomi — who detailed her mental heath issues her 2016 book, “River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope” — also confessed that she had seriously considered taking her own life at a bridge near her farm.
Meanwhile, her eldest daughter Wynonna told Page Six last year that she attempted suicide at 18 and still suffers from depression.
“I have thoughts where I say to myself, ‘This is too much,’ and then I call somebody,” she told us. “I literally will call somebody because I have been stuck in my sadness where I didn’t and we have to reach out and that’s been the hardest thing for me because I’m not good at asking for help and that’s it.”
Additionally, Ashley has talked openly about her own struggles. The actress told Glamour magazine that she entered the Shades of Hope Treatment Center in 2006 for “codependence in my relationships, depression, blaming, raging, numbing, denying and minimizing my feelings.
Naomi was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday — one day after her death.Getty Images“But because my addictions were behavioral, not chemical, I wouldn’t have known to seek treatment. At Shades of Hope, my behaviors were treated like addictions. And those behaviors were killing me spiritually, the same as someone who is sitting on a corner with a bottle in a brown paper bag.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
