Wynonna Judd, The Judds - Love Can Build A Bridge: Songs Of Faith, Hope & Love (2016)

As one half of the Judds, Wynonna Judd became one of the most popular and respected female country stars of her time. On her own since the early '90s, Judd demonstrated an eclecticism that increasingly confounded hardcore country fans and radio programmers but also helped her retain a core of admiring followers. Her solo records might stick with Judds-style country-pop or delve into roots rock, blues, gospel, adult contemporary pop, folk, or Southern R&B.

Judd was born Christina Ciminella in Ashland, Kentucky, on May 30, 1964. Her mother, Naomi (then known by her birth name, Diana), was still in high school at the time, and her biological father abandoned the family almost immediately; Naomi married another man, Michael Ciminella, to create a traditional family unit. In 1968, they moved to Los Angeles, but the marriage disintegrated in 1972. Wynonna spent parts of the next few years living on welfare and returned to Kentucky with her mother in 1976. They lived in a mountain home with no phone or television, and listening to country music on the radio was a major source of entertainment. Wynonna learned to play guitar after receiving one as a gift and was soon singing close harmony with her mother. By the time she was a teenager, her vocal talents were apparent, and in 1979, the family moved to Nashville to try their luck in the music business. Naomi and Wynonna landed a contract with RCA in 1983, and over the remainder of the '80s, they became the biggest-selling duo in country music history (a title that would later be taken over by Brooks & Dunn). Wynonna wasn't always as career-minded as her mother, who effectively ran the group, and was growing ever more rebellious when, in 1990, Naomi was diagnosed with hepatitis C; she retired from performing after a farewell tour in 1991.

Wynonna was at first unsure whether she wanted to carry on without her mother but quickly decided to embark on a solo career, signing with MCA. Her first album on her own, Wynonna, was released in 1992 and was an instant smash, selling over three million copies; it also topped the country charts, reached the Top Five on the pop side, and earned many positive reviews as well. Her first three solo singles -- "She Is His Only Need," "I Saw the Light," and "No One Else on Earth" -- all went to number one on the country charts, and "My Strongest Weakness" also made the Top Five. Judd's 1993 follow-up, Tell Me Why, was another platinum-selling, number one country/Top Five pop album; it gave her five more Top Ten hits in the title track, "Only Love," "Girls with Guitars," "Rock Bottom," and "Is It Over Yet." However, Judd's career hit a snag when it was revealed that, like her mother before her, she had become pregnant out of wedlock. The tabloids had a field day, and more conservative country fans attacked her as being an immoral role model.

Judd eventually married her son's father, Nashville businessman Arch Kelly, in 1996, and that year she finally released her third album, Revelations. It was a more introspective affair that gave her a number one single in "To Be Loved by You" and eventually went platinum despite not producing any further Top Ten hits. For the follow-up, 1997's The Other Side, Judd refashioned her sound into a bluesy, rock-driven roots music blend that often recalled Bonnie Raitt. It reached the country Top Five yet failed to sell a million copies for the first time in Judd's solo career, prompting her to split with MCA and move to Mercury. By this point, Judd had also had a second child, but her marriage fell apart in 1998; instead of releasing another solo album right away, Judd reunited with her mother for a New Year's Eve concert to ring in the year 2000. They embarked on a full-fledged tour together in 2000, and four new Judds songs were released on an exclusive bonus disc with Wynonna's Mercury debut, New Day Dawning. Her most eclectic effort to date (and her first as a co-producer), the album featured covers of Joni Mitchell and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and while it didn't spawn any major hit singles, it again climbed into the Top Five on the country album charts.

Judd returned to her country roots in 2003 with What the World Needs Now Is Love, which found her reuniting on one track ("Flies on the Butter") with her mother. The live Her Story: Scenes from a Lifetime, released on DVD and CD, arrived in 2005, hitting number two on the Top Country Albums chart, and the next year, just in time for the holiday season, the singer released Classic Christmas. An album of covers and standards, Sing: Chapter 1, appeared in 2009.

In 2010 the Judds reunited; the single "I Will Stand by You" was released on October 4. The following year, after a farewell tour, Wynonna's first novel, Restless Heart, was published by NAL. A six-episode reality television series with her mother entitled The Judds was broadcast on the Oprah Winfrey Network in April. It was followed in May with the single "Love It Out Loud." In November, Wynonna and her new band, Wynonna & the Big Noise (which included her new husband, drummer/producer Cactus Moser), made their debut concert appearance in Nashville. The band released its first single, "Something You Can't Live Without," in 2013. It was Judd's first new solo material in four years. She also made guest appearances on albums by Willie Nelson and Colt Ford that year and was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. In 2016, after another years-long period of silence, the full-length Wynonna & the Big Noise (produced by Moser) was released in February by Curb Records. ~ Steve Huey

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The Judds shaped and defined the sound of contemporary country music in the 1980s. Mother Naomi and daughter Wynonna enjoyed an astounding run of 14 number one singles from 1984 to 1989, ranking them as one of the most popular country acts of the '80s. Their music combined elements of traditional country harmony singing, bluegrass, and Appalachian folk with pop, rock, and polished contemporary production. Moreover, Wynonna's powerful, bluesy lead vocals established her as one of the finest female country singers of her era. But even more important than their widely accessible sound -- or their considerable visual appeal -- was their sympathetic understanding of working-class women and small-town life, learned through long, hard struggles of their own. Though their off-stage relationship was often more contentious than it appeared, it took a life-threatening illness to bring the Judds to a halt -- Naomi retired from performing when she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C but beat the disease to watch Wynonna enjoy an acclaimed solo career.

The Judds' story began in Ashland, Kentucky, where Naomi was born Diana Ellen Judd on January 11, 1946. An honor roll student, she often played piano in the Baptist church her family attended but shocked the town by getting pregnant at the age of 17 by a man who immediately abandoned her. Hoping to save face, she married new sweetheart Michael Ciminella but missed her high school graduation, giving birth to Wynonna (born Christina Ciminella, May 30, 1964); to make matters worse, her brother died of cancer not long after, and her parents divorced. In 1968, the family moved to Los Angeles, and new daughter Ashley (later a successful movie star) was born not long after. Unfortunately, the marriage broke apart in 1972, and the family often survived on welfare while Diana bounced between jobs (waitressing, modeling, serving as secretary for the pop-soul group the 5th Dimension) and endured an abusive rebound relationship. In 1976, she moved the family back to Kentucky, where they lived in a mountain home with no phone or TV. Music helped pass the time, and Wynonna began playing the guitar and harmonizing with her mother, who was in the meantime studying to become a nurse. She renamed herself Naomi and brought the family back to the West Coast to finish her nursing degree. Wynonna's singing talent was by then readily apparent, and in 1979, the Judds moved to Nashville in hopes of making it in the music business.

Naomi and Wynonna made tapes of themselves on a cheap cassette recorder and sometimes sang on Ralph Emery's local morning show. They caught their first big break through Naomi's nursing job: one of her patients happened to be the daughter of record producer Brent Maher, and that contact eventually led to an audition for RCA executives in early 1983. The Judds were signed on the spot and issued their debut single, "Had a Dream (For the Heart)," late in the year. It reached the country Top 20, and it was accompanied by a quickly assembled mini-album, The Judds. Their second single, "Mama He's Crazy," was a breakout hit that went all the way to number one and later won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal by a Duo or Group. Their first true full-length, Why Not Me, was released in 1984 and took its place as a classic of modern country, establishing the Judds as spokeswomen for a new generation of female country music fans. The Grammy-winning title track, "Girls Night Out," and "Love Is Alive" all went on to top the country charts, as did the album, which sold over a million copies.

The Judds were now full-fledged stars, and they spent the rest of the '80s cranking out hit after hit. 1985's exuberant Rockin' with the Rhythm spawned four number one singles in "Have Mercy," "Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days)" (another Grammy winner), "Rockin' with the Rhythm of the Rain," and "Cry Myself to Sleep." 1987's Heartland was widely viewed as more uneven than its predecessors but kept their hit streak going strong with the chart-toppers "I Know Where I'm Going," "Maybe Your Baby's Got the Blues," and "Turn It Loose." The ten-track Greatest Hits was released in 1988 and featured two new songs: "Give a Little Love," which went to number two and won another Grammy, and "Change of Heart," which hit number one. 1989's River of Time became the first Judds album not to top the country charts since their debut mini-album but continued their streak of consecutive million-sellers all the same. "Young Love (Strong Love)" and "Let Me Tell You About Love" both hit number one and would prove to be the last Judds songs to do so.

By this point in the Judds' career, mother and daughter were clearly distinct personalities. Naomi was the extroverted stage presence, the sometime songwriter, and the ambitious businesswoman who steered the group's career and pushed her daughter to keep realizing her talent. Wynonna -- despite her quiet, reserved demeanor -- was a prodigiously talented vocal stylist who grew surer of herself with every passing release and rebelled more and more forcefully against her mother's direction. By the time Love Can Build a Bridge was released in 1990, there was already speculation that Wynonna was ready to mount a solo career. Not long after the album was released, Naomi announced that she had been diagnosed with hepatitis C, a chronic and life-threatening illness that she had likely contracted from a needle during her days as a nurse. The constant touring had already begun to take its toll on her health, and she elected to retire from performing and recording, following one last farewell tour in 1991. Love Can Build a Bridge produced several hits, including the Top Fivers "Born to Be Blue" and the title track, and the tour was unsurprisingly a blockbuster success.

Wynonna released her solo debut in 1992 and followed it with several more successful albums over the course of the '90s. Naomi, meanwhile, sought alternative medical treatment for the disease that was expected to take her life in several years. She published her autobiography, Love Can Build a Bridge, in 1993; the book was later turned into a TV movie. By 1999, Naomi's hepatitis had somehow gone into remission, and she and Wynonna reunited for a gala New Year's Eve concert to ring in the new millennium; it was later released as The Judds Reunion Live. A full-fledged reunion tour followed in 2000, and four newly recorded Judds songs were issued exclusively on a bonus disc included with Wynonna's solo album New Day Dawning. Following the tour, Wynonna resumed her solo career, while Naomi made her living as a motivational speaker, television personality, and actress. Naomi Judd died on April 30, 2022, near Nashville at the age of 76, the day before the Judds were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and shortly after the duo had announced a reunion tour scheduled to begin in September 2022. Wynonna and her sister Ashley gave a public memorial for Naomi on May 15, at which Wynonna announced that she would fulfill the commitment to the reunion tour. ~ Steve Huey