Naomi Judd, singer for The Judds and mother of Wynonna and Ashley Judd has died at 76-years-old

Naomi Judd, Grammy award winning legendary country singer for The Judds and mother to both Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd passed away Saturday. She was 76 years old.

Survived by her daughters, fellow Judds musician Wynona Judd and actress-turned-activist Ashley Judd, Judd’s death was announced by the sisters on Saturday.

From the Epoch Times:

“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement said. “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.” The statement did not elaborate further.

Born in Kentucky, Naomi was working as a nurse when her and her Wynonna started performing together, combining traditional country music elements with blues, bluegrass, and other genres to perform a unique sound at the time.

According to her daughters, she passed away due to a struggle with mental illness.

Naomi, as part of The Judds, was scheduled to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday, and were planning on a fall arena tour, which would have been their first in over a decade.

Their hits included “Love Can Build a Bridge,” “Why Not Me,” “Mama He’s Crazy,” “Girls’ Night Out,” and more and their lyrics often were filled with emotional invocations of belief in fidelity and the sanctity of marriage.

The duo won 5 Grammy awards over the course of their original 8 year run, and had 14 no.1 hits over their 3 decade off-and-on career together.

Country music has lost a legendary performer.