Wynonna Judd Confronts Her Family Secrets

Each day, Wynonna Judd would walk to the studio on her Tennessee farm, and each night, she'd "cry the whole way home." In new interviews with People and the New York Times, the 62-year-old country star describes making The Hard Truth—her first record in 10 years and "first ever as a primary songwriter," per the Times—as a grueling but clarifying process that forced her to confront long-guarded family secrets and unresolved grief after the 2022 death by suicide of her mother and former Judds partner, Naomi Judd. "We weren't honest about what was going on, not really," Wynonna tells the Times, referring to her mother's manic depression and suicidal ideation.

When her mother was alive, Wynonna says she was "afraid of going against ... the sparkly and wholesome narrative she wanted told" because Naomi could be "scary." Now, cowriting most of the songs with husband Cactus Moser, Wynonna sings about their conflicted relationship and the 30-year secrecy around her biological father, a man who died without ever having met her. She addresses her anger and partial forgiveness toward Naomi over that revelation, the strain with sister Ashley Judd, and the ongoing estrangement from her daughter Grace Kelley, who is incarcerated and battling addiction. Wynonna says she's never been this exposed in her music—and feels freer for it. As she tells People, "It was both painful and healing."