Wynonna Judd. Photo by Nick Stewart.
Wynonna Judd, The Judds: The Final Tour.
As strong as Wynonna Judd has proven to be her entire life, there are still times when the country music icon is knocked over by the sheer power of the love that comes from her loyal fans.
“Literally last night, I got dizzy,” Judd said of a recent stop on The Judds: The Final Tour. “I feel it so deeply.”
And it’s this power that the artist says she is looking forward to feeling yet again come February 4, when Judd walks onto the stage at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis.
“The audiences sing every word,” says Judd, who will bring special guests Martina McBride and Kelsea Ballerini with her to the show in St. Louis. “It takes my breath away. I literally have to physically take a step back and just hold up the microphone sometimes.”
It’s this support that Judd has so desperately needed as of late as she continues to come to grips following the death of her mother, Naomi Judd, last April.
“I'm a beautiful mess these days,” Judd says with a slight laugh. “Sometimes I show up and I have my eyelashes on, and I kick ass and take names. And then other nights, I show up and I'm a mess. I literally just show up with a broken heart.”
But when that happens, she leans on the fandom that has long loved her and her mom, who as The Judds wove so much of the tapestry of country music with hit songs such as “Mama, He’s Crazy,” “(Grandpa) Tell Me ‘Bout the Good ‘Ol Days,” and “Love Can Build a Bridge.”
“I just wrote a song for her,” says Judd. “I think that in order to move forward, you have to make peace with your past.” That song is “Broken and Blessed,” which she recently wrote for her late mother and bandmate and will soon include on a new album.
This path of moving forward still has its rough patches, the red-haired icon admits. However, it is on the stage that Judd finds the courage to keep going.
“This show is a celebration,” she stresses. “It’s a celebration of life after death.”
