Naomi Judd Raised 2 Daughters on Nurse’s Salary & without Electricity — She Got Estranged from One before Death

Naomi Judd knew nothing less of success in her music career. However, her relationship with her daughters was nothing to write home about. Nevertheless, her demise left them devastated.

Naomi Judd is a household name. With a music career spanning decades, she received numerous awards for her work, including several chart-topping singles alongside her daughter Wynonna, with whom she created the two-person band "The Judds."

But life was not always a walk in the park for Naomi. After getting pregnant at 18, her boyfriend and the father of her first daughter, Charles Jordan, abandoned her, and she had to raise her by herself.

Unfortunately, her troubles did not end there. Four years later, in 1968, she married Michael Ciminella and gave birth to a second daughter, Ashley. However, the marriage was short-lived, and they parted ways only four years later.

Raising Two Girls on Her Own

The end of her marriage to Ciminella meant Naomi would raise her two daughters as a single mom. And it was no easy feat. She struggled to raise the girls on her nurse's salary before becoming a singer.

The three would reportedly survive on second-hand clothes and sometimes without indoor plumbing or electricity in their home in poor rural Kentucky.

After the girls came home from school, Naomi would help them with their homework and then embark on doing laundry. She would buy groceries with food stamps, feed her daughters, and then after the girls went to bed, she would work as a cocktail waitress until about two in the morning.

At 37, Naomi took a leap of faith and moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a country music singer. She, alongside her then-19-year-old daughter Wynonna, formed "The Judds."

The duo began making music, and soon after became the most popular country music duo, selling over 20 million albums and winning six Grammys.

However, her ever-rising career hit a brick wall when she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1990, and she retired from show business. Her daughter soon started a solo career.

Wynonna Got to Know Her Father’s Identity at 30

It was hard enough for Naomi to raise her kids singlehandedly but even more challenging to disclose their fathers' identities. She kept the secret for years, only revealing it to Wynonna when she was thirty.

This new revelation sent Wynonna reeling, and she said that nine years after learning that she and her sister did not share a father, she was still angry.

But unlike Wynonna, Ashley always knew from a very tender age that she and her sister were from different fathers. Ashley would say on Oprah, "I don't know that I thought about it every day of my life, but there were certainly very few days that I didn't live with this secret, and I think it does something to a child."

Naomi and Wynonna Remained Estranged for Years

While Wynonna spent most of her formative and early adult years touring with her mother, their relationship as adults soon took a nosedive. Naomi would disclose that sometimes, they just needed "a little break from each other," adding, "From the day I knew she existed, it was the two of us against the world. Through the decades, we kind of grew up together, and I'm always telling her, 'If I'd known better, I would've done better.'"

"We're still a little estranged from each other," she said. "And that happens with mother, daughters." Her relationship with her daughter got so bad that Wynonna did not tell her mother when she walked down the aisle, and Naomi had to find out about it in a magazine.

And while she admitted to making many mistakes in life, Naomi took the path to rectify most by speaking about the hurtful things that decorated their earlier years.

However, her relationship with Wynonna is a far cry from that with her youngest daughter Ashley. Speaking on Good Morning America, Naomi shared that she and Ashley were so much alike in mannerisms, adding that they both loved reading and visiting new places.

Naomi Wanted to Give Her Mother the Best Life Possible

Despite their estranged relationship, Naomi's daughters always mattered to her. She was also looking to make amends in her relationship with her mother, moving her to a nursing home facility 15 miles from her farm.

Naomi would easily visit her mother daily, and her almost 90-year-old mother would also spend the weekends at her daughter's farm. It would also allow her to see both Ashley's and Wynonna's families. She said, "While it's true that I didn't get my emotional needs met with my mother, I've come to terms with that and now want to give her the best life possible for the remaining years."

Wynonna has been married three times. She shares two children, Elijah and Grace, with her first husband, Arch Kelley III. Today, she remains married to Catus Moser. On the other hand, Ashley married Dario Franchitti in 2001, divorced him in 2013, and has never remarried.

The End of the Road for Naomi

While Naomi's life has been marred with unfortunate events, including estranged relationships and depression, she remains one of America's most adored country music royalty.

Unfortunately, on April 30, 2022, Naomi passed on in Nashville, Tennessee. Following her demise, Ashley and Wynonna released a statement. "Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness," they said, adding, "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."

A day later, Naomi was inducted into the Country Hall of Fame, a ceremony that left everyone attending emotional. Wynonna shared that despite her broken heart, she would continue making music while Ashley spoke to the gathering crowd:

"My mama loved you so much. And I'm sorry that she couldn't hang on until today."

Despite the loss, the Country Music Hall of Fame decided to continue with the ceremony, saying: "Her triumphant life story overshadows today's tragic news." She was 76.

Five months after the family matriarch's death, Wynonna got candid about the grieving process, saying she was still trying to wrap her head around it. She is unsure whether she ever will. Meanwhile, her sister Ashley went through therapy.

Wynonna grapples with the fact that her beloved mother died by suicide. "That's how baffling and cunning mental illness is. You have to make peace with the fact that you don't know. Sometimes there are no answers," she said.

At the same time, she finds it difficult to understand how someone could be so strong yet vulnerable. Wynonna dealt with her mother's death one day at a time, which she expressed was enough. She continued making music they used to make together and even went ahead with "The Judds: The Final Tour."

The last time the mother and daughter duo saw each other was at the CMT Awards in April 2022, where they sang their hit song, "Love Can Build a Bridge." "The last thing I said to her was 'I love you,' and I'm so grateful for that," Wynonna revealed in an October 2022 interview.