Naomi Judd Was ‘Burdened’ by a Fan Who Joined Her Church for the Wrong Reasons
Country star Naomi Judd was once “burdened” by a fan so loyal they found her family’s church and joined it. Keep reading to find out why Judd had a problem with that kind of behavior and what she did to urge the fan to fix it.
Naomi Judd believed in ‘marriage, faith, family, and fidelity’
Before her death at 76, Judd was a proud member of the Pentecostal faith and called herself a “super-believer.” And she thought sharing that part of herself with admirers added another layer of relatability for fans of The Judds.
“Wynonna [Judd] and I believe in marriage, and faith, and family, and fidelity. That’s what we have been searching for. I think many people see that search in their own lives,” she once explained (per MovieGuide.)
But Judd also liked to keep space between where she went to worship and the people who adored. And she was displeased when a fan joined her church for what she felt were the wrong reasons.
A fan once joined a church for The Judds and ‘burdened’ Naomi Judd
In 1993, Judd said a fan joined the church her family attended. “It really burdened me,” she shared.
Judd felt she and her daughter, Wynonna Judd, weren’t the biggest stars in church. She said, “I just don’t sign autographs at church. The best way I can explain it to children … is to say, ‘Honey, Jesus is the star.'”
According to Judd, she eventually wrote to that individual and gently encouraged them to evaluate their behavior. She explained, “I said, ‘I want you to really get away by yourself and read this letter and answer this question honestly: Do you come to church to see The Judds, or do you come to church to see God?'”
The fan apparently got the message. “She never came back to church,” Judd offered. “But she was in the autograph line today.”
Naomi Judd thought country music should be about weekend nights and church mornings
Despite being a “super-believer,” Judd felt country music songs should be “about Sunday morning, as well as Friday and Saturday nights,” she said (per Knoxville News Sentinel.) She was aware that others thought she lived a life of sin, but she didn’t shy away from her truths.
“People do know that I’ve done a lot of living and I know what I’m talking about,” she said. “People know that Wynonna was conceived when I was 17 and unmarried. They’ve got to know that — living all over America like I did, with the two kids, during the U-Haul-it years — some pretty hairy things went down.”
But the country music mother felt like her real-life experiences made her relatable to audiences. And just because someone has been down a dark road themselves doesn’t mean they can’t help someone else shine a little light on their own paths.
Judd explained, “… If I had to go to a detox center … I’d want a counselor who once was worse off than me. Don’t give me somebody who just talks that talk. Give me someone who has lived it.”
