She’s a fighter, there’s no doubt about that.
Wynonna Judd has been through a LOT in her personal life over the years, notably with her mother, Naomi, the other half of legendary country duo The Judds, who sadly died by suicide in April of 2022. The Judds were one of the most successful country duos of all time, signing with RCA Records in 1983. Naomi and Wynonna released six records between 1984, kicking things off with their debut record, Wynonna & Naomi, and ending their career with Love Can Build a Bridge.
Both were impressive vocalists with a ton of talent that meshed perfectly with the natural chemistry of being mother and daughter. While they certainly had their issues over the years, Wynonna loved her mother deeply and was obviously devastated when she passed away.
In a new wide-ranging interview with Shawn Ryan that went nearly 5 HOURS long, Wynonna walked Shawn through her entire life, including everything she went through on the awful day her mother tragically passed away.
And she also went into detail about her rough upbringing, which included her mom moving them to West Hollywood at one point, then back to Kentucky, and all of the boyfriends and men that were in and out of their lives because of their mother.
Wynonna has talked about how she didn’t find out her biological father was Charles Jordan until she was 30-years-old, and for all those years before, she thought her biological father was Michael Ciminella, Naomi’s first husband and Ashley’s biological father.
She recalled her lonely childhood and being responsible for her sister and even her mother, as her dad was working all the time and her mom was “in the clouds” and not present emotionally. Wynonna said everyone in their town knew Michael wasn’t her biological father, Ashley even knew too, and Naomi had told Michael the truth when she was pregnant with Ashley out of spite.
Wynonna recalls that, in his own (disgusting) way, he would let her know, though, because he would tell her he loved Ashley more than her when he would drink:
“But he let me know it, I just didn’t know it for sure… telling me he loved Ashley more than he loved me. When he would drink. Oh, he let me know. and we don’t speak to this day because of him telling me that I’m not his and he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. So it wasn’t a great relationship, very troubled, alcoholic, drug addict.
Michael and Naomi got divorced in 1972, and Wynonna says he told her she was one of the reasons he left. She explained she was often in the middle of their fights, literally trying to separate them and deescalate them.
He was very hard on her, and she told Shawn he would do things like pulling over to make her drive a stick shift at 12, and drive out to the Kentucky river to check his trotlines:
“I always wanted his attention, and I got it, but in a very mischievous and torture kind of way. He was very rough on me. Like, he pulled the car over at age 12 and said, ‘Drive.’ a stick shift, at that. So I drove. ‘Walk across that log over the white water, swim out to the middle of the Kentucky river and check the trotline.’ With a current.
So I’m not really too sure he likes me very much. From four to as far as I can remember back to, four, I think it’s what I remember remembering. When I was 10, 12. This is when we were living in Camp Wake.”
She explained he was still around after the divorce some, but eventually, Naomi moved the girls to West Hollywood as she chased stardom, but she started getting “creepy boyfriends” and was rarely without a man, which Wynonna says opened “a whole other can of worms”
“It was peaceful, more so. We moved to West Hollywood, but she started to get creepy boyfriends. She was very seldom without a man, so that opened up a whole other can of worms. A lot of dope smoking, a lot of parties, a lot of drinking and drugging, and just it wasn’t very safe.
Wasn’t my favorite, meanwhile, we’re trying to go to school, and I was in brownies and there was a little bit of normalcy there, but not a whole lot.”
She didn’t have anybody to look up to, to talk to and no one knew what was going on because Wynonna wouldn’t tell anybody, and as she put it:
“I’ve been keeping secrets a long time.”
She recalled trying to protect her younger sister from her mom’s gross and disgusting boyfriends, which was a hard part to listen to:
“Well, everything from trying to get him to stop staring at us when we’re in the bathtub. We could start there. I knew that that was weird. So I would say something. I remember him laying down on top of me while we were watching TV, and me feeling the **** and me getting up and moving away.
Oh yeah, I knew on some level, that this guy was a creep. And he would beat up Mom, and we would go to a motel. It was bad at times.”
For most of her life, Wynonna was the keeper and protector of her mom and her sister, and it’s all she really remembers from a very young age:
“Well, I don’t remember telling her anything. I think I just was there, and you know, hugging her and holding onto her. Letting her know I love her. I think from a very early age, Shawn, I knew that I was also protecting mother on some level. I was responsible for her, and I felt incredibly capable by the time I was six because I had been doing chores as long as I can remember, you know what I mean.
Doing dishes, folding towels, I have a whole chapter in my book dedicated to mother and how she taught me how to fold perfect washcloth at age 4. I just have memory after memory of helping. I had the ‘Mama’s Little Helper’ apron, and I was. I was mama’s little helper.”
Wynonna went on to talk about how the sexual abuse got worse later on, and it’s horrible to say the least, to think she went through all of that as a very young child. No child deserves any of that and the fact that she went on to live the life she did and become a country legend is just beyond impressive.
Wynonna and Shawn had a very deep and interesting conversation, and you really get to see a beautiful side of her. I highly recommend checking it out, and the full interview is available here:
Wynonna just released her first album in 10 years called The Hard Truth, explain that it’s her most personal album to date, diving deep into her journey of heartbreak, healing and faith throughout the difficult past few years. A
The Hard Truth Tracklist
- “Prelude (All Downhill From Ashland)”
- “All Downhill From Ashland” (feat. The War And Treaty)
- “Everything” (feat. Patterson Hood)
- “Am I Missing Out”
- “Broken And Blessed”
- “Hear Me Now” (feat. Iron & Wine)
- “The Hopeful Lie” (feat. The War And Treaty)
- “Kentucky Queen”
- “Girl Who Could Sing”
- “Drive”
- “Love Ain’t Got The Best Of Me”
