Diana Ellen Judd

Diana Ellen Judd was born in Ashland, Kentucky. A young single mother who worked as a registered nurse to support daughters Wynonna and Ashley, she and Wynonna began singing traditional Appalachian bluegrass and country harmonies around the kitchen table. Moving to Nashville in 1979, Naomi managed to slip an audition tape to a record producer whose daughter was one of her hospital patients, securing an RCA audition in 1983.

Billing themselves as The Judds, they became an immediate phenomenon with acoustic-driven hits like "Mama He's Crazy", "Why Not Me", and "Love Can Build a Bridge". They won five Grammy Awards, nine Country Music Association awards, and scored fourteen number-one Billboard country hits. Diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1990, Naomi retired from full-time touring, authoring bestselling memoirs and advocating for mental health awareness before her tragic death just one day before The Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.