Country iconic singer Naomi Judd died by suicide, multiple sources have confirmed to People Magazine. She was 76.
The beloved Grammy winner, who was one-half of the mother-daughter duo The Judds, took her own life on Saturday following a longtime battle with mental illness, the news outlet reported.
The news follows an announcement made Saturday by Naomi’s daughters, Ashley Judd and Wynonna Judd, that their mother had died.
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered” they said, without elaborating. “We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
Throughout her career, Naomi Judd was candid about her struggles with mental illness and depression, as chronicled in her 2016 memoir, River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope.
Regarding suicidal depression, she told People, “Nobody can understand it unless you’ve been there.”
