Wynonna Judd confirms her status as the GOAT: “I’m Still Here”

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Wynonna Judd made a brief but poignant statement while filming her forthcoming special on Thursday night as she took in the noise of the sold-out venue.

The artist, who is now 58 and has been working professionally for 39 years, responded, “I’m still here.” Crazy, right?

No, what’s insane is that this new era of widespread admiration has been so long overdue and that it took the horrible shock of the passing of Wynonna Judd’s mother Naomi to bring it back to its senses.

She performed for The Judds: Love Is Alive — The Final Concert at the Murphy Center on the Middle Tennessee State University campus in Murfreesboro for about two hours, showcasing her unique talents. Soon after Judd completes the recently announced second leg of “The Judds: The Final Tour,” the TV show will be aired, and she seems determined to make this concert her exclamation point.

She shared the stage with a number of her tourmates, including Brandi Carlile, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, and Martina McBride, to add additional star power to her own glimmer. Additionally, she took 25 songs with her that she had known all her life; several of these songs are now considered classics of the genre.

Of course, Naomi Judd was the only thing that was lacking from such a magical night, and her daughter was always aware of this.

She paused mid-sentence during the introduction of one song, turned to face the sky, and pleaded with God, “You should be here.”

The implication was obvious: On April 11, the couple announced their tour, but Naomi Judd committed suicide 19 days later. At a public memorial service two weeks later, Wynonna Judd declared that the program will go on without her.

However, it hasn’t in a few notable respects, as Thursday’s performance so amply demonstrated. Even though Naomi Judd’s name was never spoken aloud or her face was never displayed onstage, her influence could be felt throughout the entire performance, whether it was in the songs she sang with her daughter, the songs she co-wrote for the two of them, or even in a simple lyric alteration.

“My momma is gone, gone, gone forever more,” Wynonna Judd mournfully sang in “River of Time.” The original lyrics, co-written by Naomi, grieved the loss of “my love.”

“She wrote this song for you,” Judd said in her introduction. “I’m singing it as if it was written for me because I’m feeling this song so deeply.”

The venue for the event was also a tribute to a significant turning point in the lives of the performers. The epic 1991 TV special, The Judds Farewell Concert, was filmed in the same 10,000-seat location. Although mother and daughter occasionally performed together in the years that followed, that concert signaled the official end of the Judds. After eight years of being together, they ended their business relationship so that Naomi could deal with the crippling effects of hepatitis C, while Wynonna went on to start her solo career.

The Thursday event was advertised as a “re-creation” of the original special the week before, but Judd made it clear from the start of the performance that she had no interest in engaging in that kind of self-conscious nostalgia. Instead, she chose songs from her own successful solo career as well as Judd’s favorites, almost exactly matching the set list of the tribute tour. For the record, 12 additional songs were added, including six that were recorded after 1991, while 13 of the 19 songs performed in 1991 were reprised.

One big nod to the original show was ensured by Judd: She switched from an all-black attire midway through to a black suit and a white shirt with large ruffled sleeves that were nearly identical to what she wore in 1991. The enthusiastic response showed that the audience recognized the homage right away.

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