“Wynonna and I couldn’t talk to each other, but, low and behold, we could sing together,” Naomi recalled to in Ken Burns’ Country Music documentary.
After a few years of harmonizing with her eldest, Naomi moved the girls to Nashville and scored a record deal for The Judds. The single mom struggled to raise her daughters while starting her career as a nurse, living without TV or a phone line. Naomi and Ciminella divorced in 1972, and Naomi moved the family back to her home state. The new family moved from Kentucky to Los Angeles in 1968, the year Ashley was born. Naomi gave birth to Wynonna (born Christina Claire Ciminella) in June of that year, forcing her to miss her graduation ceremony. The father skipped town, so she married another classmate, Michael Ciminella, in 1964. Naomi had a high school romance with Charles Jordan, a football player, and she got pregnant at 17. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. “We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy,” they said in a joint message, shared via Twitter. Wynonna Judd and Ashley Juddrevealed their mother’s death in a statement on April 30. After Naomi Judd’s April 2022 death, the country singer’s loving family will hold their special moments with her in their hearts.
