Naomi Judd

Naomi Judd (born Diana Ellen Judd; January 11, 1946 – April 30, 2022) was an American country music singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna (born Christina Claire) formed the duo known as The Judds, which became a successful country music act, winning five Grammy Awards and nine Country Music Association awards. The Judds ceased performing in 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with hepatitis; while Wynonna continued to perform as a solo artist, she occasionally reunited with her mother for tours as The Judds. Naomi died by suicide in 2022, on the day before she and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Judd was born Diana Ellen Judd to Pauline Ruth "Polly" (née Oliver) and Charles Glen Judd on January 11, 1946, in Ashland, Kentucky. Her father owned a gas station and her mother was a riverboat cook. Her brother Brian died of leukemia in 1965 at the age of 17.

Judd's first child, Christina Claire Ciminella (later Wynonna Judd), was born when Judd was 18. Her first daughter was given the last name Ciminella after Michael Ciminella, the man who Judd quickly married after being abandoned by her boyfriend and Wynonna's biological father, Charles Jordan. After the birth of her second daughter, Ashley (1968), who later became a film and stage actress, and the end of her marriage to Ciminella, Judd brought up both daughters as a single parent. Judd attended nursing school at the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky and then College of Marin in California from 1975 through 1979 while living in nearby Lagunitas, California.

When she reverted to her maiden name following her divorce, she also took the opportunity to change her name, Diana, which she did not think fit "her own spiritual, rural Kentucky conception of her true heritage", and decided to pay homage to the Biblical figure Naomi, finding resonance in her story of moving to another land and eventually being left without a husband raising two women.

With her daughter Wynonna Judd, Naomi formed the successful country-music duo known as the Judds throughout the 1980s. They had twenty top ten country hits, released six albums and featured regularly at the annual country music awards shows. They won five Grammy Awards, whereas Naomi won a Country Song of the Year Grammy for writing "Love Can Build a Bridge". The duo had moderate mainstream and international success.

The Judds broke up soon after Naomi Judd was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1991. The band's farewell concert was the most successful musical event in cable pay-per-view history. Judd created the Naomi Judd Education and Research Fund in 1991 to raise awareness of hepatitis C, and used the strength of her experiences as a spokesmodel for the American Liver Foundation. She received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 1993.

In 1998, she achieved virologic cure of hepatitis C following treatment with interferon alpha. The Judds reunited for a 1999 New Year's Eve concert in Phoenix at the America West Arena, with Ashley as the MC. This continued with the "Power to Change" tour throughout 2000, while the Phoenix concert was released as The Judds Reunion Live. The duo was nominated as the Academy of Country Music's top vocal duo of the year in 2001.

From 2003 to 2004, Judd featured as a judge on the Star Search show hosted by Arsenio Hall. Judd began Naomi's New Morning, a Sunday morning talk show on the Hallmark Channel, in 2005. The show lasted two seasons. She was also the author of several self-help books, including Naomi's Guide to Aging Gratefully: Facts, Myths, and Good News for Boomers (2007).