What It Takes

As a tribute to Naomi Judd, who died suddenly on Saturday night at the age of 76, we are re-posting our episode from 2017.  Ms. Judd's life and storied career had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, as she talked about here. For eight glorious years, she and her daughter Wynonna were the biggest country music sensation of the 1980's, with fourteen number one hits, sold-out stadium tours, and too many rhinestones to count. But Naomi's life before and after was far from glamorous. Her early years in a small-town Kentucky were tumultuous and at times traumatic. She struggled as a young single mom on welfare. But singing transformed her relationship with Wynonna, and took them to the heights of the music industry. As she shared in this conversation, however, a devastating case of Hepatitis brought it all crashing down, then eventually led her to a place of tremendous insight and gratitude.  Naomi Judd died just one night before she and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her death was