Abandoned by her father, shamed for being an "unwed mother" — Wynonna Judd has been
through a lot over the years. How she "lost herself" and what happened next, straight
ahead.
Wynonna Judd faced tragedy from the beginning of her life. At 18 years old, her mother,
Naomi Judd, became pregnant by her boyfriend, Charles Jordan. The child was, of course,
Wynonna, and unfortunately, her father left her mother to raise the baby on her own, according
to Wynonna's biography.
Soon after, Naomi met another man, Michael Ciminella, and had a second child with him,
her daughter Ashley Judd. Wynonna grew up believing that Ciminella was also her father.
However, Naomi and Ciminella's relationship did not last, and four years after marrying,
the two divorced. This left Naomi a single mother yet again, and she worked as a nurse
to support and raise her daughters. The two girls lived in instability and poverty for
much of their childhood.
Wynonna Judd began her career very early in life, making for a non-traditional adolescence
and one that included criticism from the masses. In 1994, Judd and her partner, Arch Kelley
III, announced she was pregnant. This news was quite unsettling to many of her fans,
who were upset she was going to be an unwed mother. As a result, she faced intense public
scrutiny.
"I could have gone and gotten an abortion, gone back to my career, I had plenty of things
waiting for me. But it wasn't right for me."
Judd told the Baltimore Sun,
"It doesn't really fit into the story the way everybody wanted it to. People wanted
to see me get married first to a dream boy, then live happily ever after, then the child
can come. That's the way it is in the movies. And I had dreamed it that way ... But it didn't
happen that way for me. And that's the only regret I have."
The country star didn't let criticism stand in her way, though, and she gave birth to
her child while still single. A couple of years later, before the birth of their second
child, Judd and Kelley married.
The Judds were unbelievably successful in the 1980s. Their time together on stage led
to five Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an induction into the Country
Music Hall of Fame, among other accolades. The mother-daughter duo are still seen as
trailblazers in the genre, and were the most popular country music duo in history until
Brooks & Dunn took the title.
In 1991, though, Wynonna Judd was forced to either retire from music or go solo, as her
singing partner — her mother Naomi Judd — was diagnosed with hepatitis C, a liver
infection that can be fatal. Naomi's diagnosis was quite serious, and doctors warned her
that she had just a few years to live. After announcing the end of The Judds, she and Wynonna
performed a farewell concert. Naomi later told Dr. Oz,
"I was so poisoned by my own body. I was flipped out because I was gonna lose my career. Wynonna
and I had contracts for a year of concerts. I felt like I was the CEO of a big corporation.
If I didn't sing, then people didn't eat. […] It was hideous."
Naomi survived her diagnosis and lived another 30 years, but Wynonna continued performing
solo.
In 2003, tragedy struck Wynonna Judd's life again, but this time at her own hands. The
star was arrested in Nashville, TN for drunk driving, and the act had major repercussions.
Judd's license was suspended for a year, and she was mandated by the courts to serve 200
hours of community service. The star had been battling other demons at the same time, as
she shared just before the incident. While being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, the country
crooner revealed that she had been struggling with her weight. She told Oprah,
"I've dedicated my life to country music, I home school my children, I worked three
years on my record, I support, you know, 40 to 50 families, I have for 18 years, and I
never stopped. And I'm in trouble because I lost myself. I'm the woman who forgot to
put herself on the list."
Eventually the country star was successful in her weight loss fight, and — after a
major transformation — became a spokesperson for a weight-loss pill.
"How do you feel about your body now?"
"Um, I'm so on fire."
Wynonna Judd's marital life has been as fractured as her upbringing. The renowned country singer
has been married three times, her first marriage to the father of her two children, Arch Kelley
III. Unfortunately, though, it didn't last long, and after two years and two kids, Judd
and Kelley split.
Judd found love again soon after her first divorce, though, and she married her second
husband, D. R. Roach, five years after her relationship with Kelley ended. But this second
marriage was doomed as well, and ended after just a few years, when Roach was arrested
for aggravated sexual battery of a child. Judd wrote on her website at the time,
"I am obviously devastated. Our family will pull together, begin the healing process and
hopefully — by the Grace of God — become stronger. We will move forward with our faith,
family and our friends to find resolution to this difficult situation."
Judd then fell in love for a third time with Cactus Moser, a drummer for the band Highway
101. The two wed in 2012, and Judd said of their nuptials, "I felt a joy that hasn't
been there before." Judd and Moser are still together as of the making of this video, after
nearly 10 years of marriage.
In the #MeToo era, it's common for celebrities to speak out about the abuse they've endured,
but prior to that, it was rather unheard of.
Ashley Judd was one of those rare celebrities who spoke out about the abuse she faced, detailing
it in her memoir. The star was sexually abused by a family member when she was a child, and
felt neglected by her mother as she hopped from school to school while her mother and
sister were out on tour.
In 2011, Barbara Walters asked Wynonna Judd if she had been abused, too, and although
she was not as detailed as her sister, she did confirm that she has also suffered, saying,
"This is such a personal thing, but I think we're willing to step out on faith and hope
that it helps someone else to tell someone because there is a lot of shame and secrecy."
In 2022, Wynona Judd suffered yet another tragedy when she learned that her mother and
former co-performer Naomi Judd had died. Wynonna and her sister Ashley Judd released a statement
on Instagram, writing, in part,
"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."
Days later, a report from People magazine stated that Naomi died by suicide, though
the family has yet to confirm this news, as of the making of this video.
Naomi had dealt with mental health issues for much of her life, and detailed her bouts
with depression in multiple interviews, as well as in her memoir, "River of Time: My
Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope."
The day after her death, the Judd sisters honored their mother at the Country Music
Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where Naomi and Wynonna became members of the exclusive
group.
"I feel so blessed. It's a very strange dynamic, to be this broken and this blessed."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.