Wynonna Judd Says She and Sister Ashley Judd Are ‘Taking a Break’

• Wynonna Judd, 62, told People that she and her sister, Ashley Judd, are “taking a break” and aren’t “connected” right now.
• She said nothing specific caused it, and that they could “absolutely” reconnect.
• The interview promotes The Hard Truth, her first solo album in a decade, out Oct. 2, with songs about their late mother, Naomi Judd.

Wynonna Judd and her sister Ashley Judd are spending time apart. The country singer, 62, said in a People interview published on Wednesday, Sept. 30, that the two are “taking a break.”

The comments came as Wynonna promotes The Hard Truth, an album largely about their mother, Naomi Judd, who died by suicide in April 2022 at 76.

What did Wynonna Judd say about Ashley?

That they’re giving each other space, with no single cause, according to the interview. “We’re taking a break, which all families can relate to,” she told People. “She’s doing her thing, and I’m doing mine.”

She said they aren’t “connected” at the moment and pointed to schedules, not a fight. “She just travels a lot. She’s always gone. It’s nothing specific,” Wynonna said. She said that could “absolutely” change.

She also said Ashley, 58, hasn’t heard the new album. Ashley Judd hasn’t commented publicly on her sister’s remarks.

It isn’t the first time Wynonna has described the gap. In May 2025, on Clint Black’s interview show Talking in Circles, she said Ashley was “doing well.”

Then she added: “I don’t see her very much, and we’re not as close as I’d like to be, but that’s because success took us away from each other.”

Why does Ashley call Wynonna ‘Sister Mommy’?

Because Wynonna helped raise her. On the same show, Wynonna said that as a teenager she did “the chores, the driving, the cooking” while Naomi, then a nurse, worked back-to-back hospital shifts.

That’s why we have such a funny relationship, ’cause she calls me ‘sister mommy,’ and I’m a little bit sad about that, ’cause I didn’t get to be her sister.

Wynonna Judd, on Talking in Circles

“I had to be mean because I had to keep it together,” she said. “You grow up with a single parent, what are you going to do?”

The family’s path split early. Wynonna and Naomi became The Judds, one of the biggest duos in country music in the 1980s. Ashley, four years younger than Wynonna, went into acting and became a film star in the 1990s.

What did Wynonna say about her mother, Naomi?

That the relationship was hard and loving at the same time. “There was a tremendous amount of love there; a lot of drama but a lot of love as well,” she told People. “It was definitely a paradox.”

Naomi spoke openly about her depression before her death, including on Megyn Kelly TODAY in 2017, when she promoted her book River of Time. She died on April 30, 2022, the day before The Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Wynonna called making the album “both painful and healing.” “It felt like I was standing in church, giving my testimony,” she told People.

The Hard Truth comes out on Friday, Oct. 2, on ANTI- Records. It has 11 songs, all co-written by Wynonna, and was produced by her husband, drummer Cactus Moser. Iron & Wine, The War and Treaty and Patterson Hood appear as guests. The lead single is “Kentucky Queen”:

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.

More from Music: how Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ spent 23 weeks at No. 1, why Dolly Parton’s estate went to court against her nephew and what the coroner ruled in Hayden Panettiere’s death.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: Wynonna Judd to People, Sept. 30, 2026, as reported by Extra (Sept. 30, 2026), The Blast (Barnell Anderson) and Yahoo Entertainment; Wynonna Judd on Talking in Circles with Clint Black (Circle Country), May 23, 2025; ANTI- Records and Billboard, for the album’s release date, track list and credits; Naomi Judd on Megyn Kelly TODAY (NBC), Dec. 5, 2017. Photos and video: Talking in Circles (Circle Country); Good Morning America (ABC); Wynonna Judd / ANTI- Records; TODAY (NBC); The Judds (official channel); TED.