Naomi Judd performs in 2009 at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville
(Picture: AP)Naomi Judd died from a self-inflicted firearm wound, her daughter has revealed.
The 76-year-old country music star took her own life at the end of April following a battle with mental illness.
Now Judd’s daughter Ashley has detailed the loss of her world-famous mother and also shared the moment she discovered her mother had died.
Speaking to Good Morning America, Ashley Judd admitted she was “uncomfortable” talking about her mother’s death as she relived her mum’s final days in the heartbreaking interview.
“She used a weapon…my mother used a firearm,” she told Diana Sawyer.
“So that’s the piece of information that we are very uncomfortable sharing.”
In an emotional conversation with @ABC News' @DianeSawyer, Ashley Judd said she wanted to speak before things “become public without our control.”https://t.co/GDTe2Jn1Sh
— Good Morning America (@GMA) May 12, 2022
She added: “When we’re talking about mental illness, it’s very important to be clear and to make the distinction between our loved one and the disease. It’s very real, and it lies, it’s savage.”
The singer’s daughter also explained she had been at her mum’s home when the tragic incident happened on April 30 in 2022.
“I visit with my mom and pop every day when I’m home in Tennessee, so I was at the house visiting as I am every day. Mom said to me, ‘Will you stay with me?’ and I said, ‘Of course I will.’…I went upstairs to let her know that her good friend was there and I discovered her. I have both grief and trauma from discovering her,” she explained.
Tributes poured in from across the globe after Judd’s family confirmed the music star had died at the end of April.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Ashley and Wynonna announced their mum’s death: “Today, we sisters experienced a tragedy. 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. We are in unknown territory.”
The Grammy-award winning artist’s career had spanned almost three decades as she performed alongside her daughter in The Judds.
The musical duo were also due to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
They had announced they would be going on tour together for the first time in over a decade before the musician sadly died.
Days after the star’s death, The Judd’s induction into the hall of fame took place during a tearful ceremony.
Reflecting on the induction, Judd’s daughter also added during the interview that the musician simply “couldn’t hang on”.
“Our mother couldn’t hang on until she was inducted into the Hall of Fame by her peers,” she added. “That is the level of catastrophe of what was going on inside of her.”
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