The most honest album she’s ever released.
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 tragically passed away due to suicide.
Wynonna just released her first album since 2016, The Hard Truth, which is a very personal project that details a lot about her relationship with her mom, her childhood, her struggles with her daughter, and so many other other hard things Wynonna has been through… it’s really the perfect album title for her journey.
Wynonna recalled getting a phone call around 11 AM from their life coach saying she needed to get to her mother’s house right that minute on the day she passed, and she went into the details about what transpired that day during a lengthy interview with Shawn Ryan which you can read about HERE.
The two of them seemed to have a very complicated relationship, to put it mildly, and Naomi kept a huge secret from Wynonna for 30 years… she didn’t find out who that the man who she always thought was her father wasn’t her biological father until she was 30-years-old.
In addition, Wynonna has talked a lot about her rough upbringing and how her parents were pretty absent, leaving her to help raise her younger sister and take on a lot of responsibility at a very young age.
In the song “Kentucky Queen,” she talks about those experiences:
“Well I took advice from my Aunt Ramona
Watch where the devil hides
Count your blessings against your sin
And pray the blessings win
Wash your hands and watch your sister
Take her where you go
When nobody was lookin’
I’d go lookin’ for the wind”
She also mentions her “mama with no shame”:
“‘Cause the wind made me
The wind made me
Like a Mama with no shame made me
The wind made me
It gave me a name
Kentucky Queen”
And an interview with People, Wynonna explained that she would have still recorded and performed that song even if her mom was still around to hear it:
“Yes. I think I would’ve been more determined. It’s my story, and it’s my feelings.”
She admits it would probably be painful for her mother to hear, but her honest nature is part of who she is, and her mom knew that more than anybody:
“I think it would be very painful for her. Very painful. But I also know that she knows me, that I’m so honest and so up-front.”
Like I said, the two of them had a complex relationship, but Wynonna loved her mom a lot and so this album is a really interesting and open reflection on her life and all of those feelings. Wynonna is unfortunately not talking to her sister Ashley right now either, saying they aren’t “connected” at the moment, but it sounds like she’s hopeful that might change eventually.
While a lot of the music focuses on her family, Wynonna says there isn’t “one specific thing” that inspired the album, though the process started after her understandably going into “a dark hole” after her mom’s tragic passing:
“When Mom died, I went into a dark hole of just wondering, ‘What the heck now?’ It’s been 10 years since I’ve put out a record.”
There was a conversation with her husband, Cactus Moser, that stuck with her, and that kind of sparked this album journey and the project we get to listen to now:
“I’m somewhere between hell and hallelujah. I said that, and he wrote it down.”
Wynonna is obviously a legend, she’s been doing this for decades and she’s an incredible artist, but to be able to continue to tell her story in this way is just incredible, and even if you think you know everything about her, because she’s shared so much of her life over the years… think again.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend doing so, and you can start here:
“Kentucky Queen”
Her song “Hear Me Now” is also about her mom:
“Hear Me Now”
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”
