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Naomi Judd, of Grammy-winning duo The Judds, dies at 76 | TribLIVE.com
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Naomi Judd, of Grammy-winning duo The Judds, dies at 76

Associated Press
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Naomi Judd poses Oct. 6, 2012, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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Wynonna Judd (left) and her mother, Naomi, perform Oct. 9, 1989, during the Country Music Association awards show in Nashville, Tenn.
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AP
Wynonna Judd (left) and Naomi Judd arrive April 11 at the CMT Music Awards at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
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AP
Naomi Judd performs June 13, 2009, at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tenn.
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Naomi Judd (left) and Wynonna Judd of The Judds perform April 4, 2011, at the “Girls’ Night Out: Superstar Women of Country,” in Las Vegas.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Naomi Judd, the Kentucky-born singer of the Grammy-winning duo The Judds and mother of Wynonna and Ashley Judd, has died. She was 76.

The daughters announced her death on Saturday in a statement provided to the Associated Press.

“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement 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.” The statement did not elaborate further.

The Judds were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday.

The mother-daughter performers scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades. After rising to the top of country music, they called it quits in 1991 after doctors diagnosed Naomi Judd with hepatitis.

The Judds’ hits included “Love Can Build a Bridge” in 1990,”Mama He’s Crazy” in 1984, “Why Not Me” in 1984,”Turn It Loose” in 1988, “Girls Night Out” in 1985, “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain” in 1986 and “Grandpa” in 1986.

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