Naomi Judd’s cause of death is now revealed. The legendary country star died by suicide Saturday at 76, after struggling with mental illness for much of her life, according to PEOPLE. Multiple sources reportedly confirmed the news.
Naomi Judd, an outspoken advocate for mental health, opened up about her struggles with suicidal depression in her book River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope. She also wrote an open letter about suicide for Mental Health Awareness Week in 2018.

she wrote. “People who commit suicide are experiencing problems with mood, impulse control and aggression, all of which involve discrete circuits in the brain that regulate these aspects of human experience, but we still don’t understand how these circuits go haywire in the brains of suicide victims.”
Judd’s daughters Ashley and Wynonna announced her death over the weekend in a statement to the Associated Press. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” they said. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
“I’m going to make this fast because my heart’s broken, and I feel so blessed,” Wynonna said. “It’s a very strange dynamic to be this broken and this blessed.”
Shania Twain tweeted: “My heart is broken for Wynonna, Ashley and the rest of the Judd family. Losing a parent is the hardest thing to go through. And especially during a moment of such celebration… Naomi Judd’s life was a triumph and The Judds impact on country music will live on forever”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsMy heart is broken for Wynonna, Ashley and the rest of the Judd family. Losing a parent is the hardest thing to go through. And especially during a moment of such celebration… Naomi Judd’s life was a triumph and The Judds impact on country music will live on forever ❤️ pic.twitter.com/TjJF5RdQQN
— Shania Twain 💎 (@ShaniaTwain) May 4, 2022