Wynonna Judd says she and sister Ashley aren’t speaking right now, a family break that surfaces as her new album confronts secrets, anger, and their late mother Naomi.
Country star Wynonna Judd told Fox News Digital she and actress Ashley Judd are “taking a break” and are not connected at the moment, even as Wynonna prepares to release her album “The Hard Truth” on Oct. 2.
The record digs into complicated family ties, long-held secrets, anger, and forgiveness. Wynonna framed the silence with her sister in plain terms that many relatives would recognize.
“We’re taking a break, which all families can relate to,” she said. “She’s doing her thing, and I’m doing mine.”
That admission arrives alongside fresh talk about her bond with their mother, Naomi Judd, and the music that once held the famous duo together.
Wynonna said a shared love of music helped her and Naomi “bypass the bullcrap” and build a close relationship despite turmoil. She described their tie as both deep and difficult.
"There was a tremendous amount of love there; a lot of drama but a lot of love as well. It was definitely a paradox."
As The Judds, the mother-daughter act helped define 1980s country with tight harmonies and a roots-driven sound. Between 1984 and 1991 they scored 20 Top 10 country hits, including 14 No. 1 singles, and collected five Grammy Awards, nine CMA Awards, and seven ACM Awards.
Those years of success did not erase private strain. Naomi waged a years-long battle with severe depression. Wynonna said she kept the secret of her mother’s illness and was left devastated by it.
"My mother had an illness, she had a disease. I kept the secret, and I was devastated by that."
Naomi Judd died by suicide in April 2022 at age 76. The loss still shapes how Wynonna talks about honesty, family, and the cost of silence.
Wynonna co-wrote “The Hard Truth” with her husband, producer Cactus Moser. She said he pushed her to open up. Moser expected the process to cut deep.
"I knew it was going to be cathartic."
Wynonna called the project the most honest work she has done and admitted the exposure still unsettles her on some days.
"I feel like this is the most honest and vulnerable I’ve ever been. It’s there for everyone to hear. So there are some days I think, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ And then other days I think, ‘There comes a point in your life when you are ready to tell your testimony.’"
She said she would have told the story even if her mother were still alive. The feelings, she insisted, belong to her.
"I think I would’ve been more determined. It’s my story, and it’s my feelings."
She also said hearing the album would have hurt Naomi, while adding that her mother knew how direct she could be.
"I think it would be very painful for her. Very painful. But I also know that she knows me, that I’m so honest and so up-front."
People previously carried her comment about the break with Ashley, the same account she repeated while promoting the new music. No public statement from Ashley appears in the available reporting.
The album’s timing places private family fracture next to a very public release. Wynonna is choosing testimony over tidy silence. Ashley, by Wynonna’s account, is simply living her own life for now.
Families break and mend on their own clocks. Facing the hard truth beats burying it, and that choice still belongs to the people who lived it.
