Naomi Judd: Country Music Hall of Fame induction goes ahead after death
The Country Music Hall of Fame was set to induct The Judds on Sunday night, despite the death of Naomi Judd on Saturday.
The hall said it would continue with the ceremony at the request of Judd’s family, but would do so with “heavy hearts and weighted minds”, according to its chief executive, Kyle Young.
Naomi Judd and her daughter Wynonna Judd were among the most popular country duos of the 1980s, scoring 14 No 1 hits during their nearly threedecade career.
Inductees are usually honored with speeches, performances and the unveiling of a plaque in the Hall of Fame rotunda. A planned public red carpet prior to Sunday’s ceremony was canceled. Ray Charles was also to be inducted, in a showcase his genre-defying country releases. The Georgia-born singer and piano player grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry and in 1962 released Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which became one of the bestselling country releases of his era.
Charles’s version of I Can’t Stop Loving You, spent five weeks on top of the Billboard 100 chart and remains one of his most popular songs. He died in 2004.
Naomi Judd died unexpectedly on Saturday near Nashville.
“We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” her daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, said. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public.”
In a March interview, Wynonna Judd said: “Music is the bridge between mom and me, and it it bonds us together. Even in the not easy times.”
In choosing to go forward with the ceremony, the Country Hall of Fame noted Naomi Judd’s remarkable life.
“Naomi overcame incredible adversity on her way to a significant place in music history. Her triumphant life story overshadows today’s tragic news,” Young said.
The Hall of Fame was also due to honor Eddie Bayers and Pete Drake.
Bayers, a drummer in Nashville for decades who worked on 300 platinum records, is a member of the Grand Ole Opry band. He regularly played on records for The Judds, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney. He is the first drummer to join the institution.
Drake, who died in 1988, was a pedal steel guitar player and a member of Nashville’s A-team of skilled session musicians, played on hits like Stand By Your Man by Tammy Wynette and He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones. He is the first pedal steel guitar player to become part of the Hall of Fame.