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Naomi Judd honored with tribute at Ryman Auditorium

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Country music icon Naomi Judd was honored with a tribute at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Sunday. 

The late musician and her daughter, Wynonna, formed the Grammy-winning duo, The Judds, in the 1980s. Judd’s other daughter, actress Ashley Judd, spoke during the public memorial.    

“She cultivated those preternatural mother-daughter harmonies and eventual stardom,” an emotional Judd told the audience. “And the result is that we are here tonight remembering an icon and a legend that left country music better than she found it.”

Naomi Judd died by suicide on April 30, one day before she and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The tribute called “River of Time” was aired on CMT and featured performances from Brad Paisley, Carly Pearce and Brandi Carlile, among others. Wynonna Judd finished the show with a performance of “Love Can Build a Bridge.” 

Caroline Eggers, Environmental Reporter

Caroline Eggers covers environmental issues with a focus on equity for WPLN News through Report for America, a national service program that supports journalists in local newsrooms across the country. Before joining the station, she spent several years covering water quality issues, biodiversity, climate change and Mammoth Cave National Park for newsrooms in the South. Her reporting on homelessness and a runoff-related “fish kill” for the Bowling Green Daily News earned her 2020 Kentucky Press Association awards in the general news and extended coverage categories, respectively. Beyond deadlines, she is frequently dancing, playing piano and photographing wildlife and her poodle, Princess. She graduated from Emory University with majors in journalism and creative writing.

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