A Day After Her Mother's Death, Wynonna Judd Tearfully Accepts Country's Highest Honor: 'My Heart's Broken'

Tearful but composed, Wynonna Judd accepted country music's highest honor for The Judds on Sunday night just a day after the shocking death of her mother and singing partner, Naomi Judd.

"I'm gonna make this fast because my heart's broken — and I feel so blessed," Wynonna Judd told the 800 people gathered in Nashville's CMA Theater for the Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "I mean, it's a very strange dynamic to be this broken and this blessed."

On Saturday, Wynonna, 57, and her actress sister, Ashley Judd, 54, shared the news that they had lost their "beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness." And though they described themselves as "shattered" by the death, hours later, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum announced that Wynonna still planned to attend the event — a decision that seemed in keeping with the steely, strong-willed personality that her fans have come to know over her decades-long career.

Jason Kempin/Getty Ashley Judd and Wynonna Judd

RELATED: Naomi Judd Dead at 76, According to Daughters Ashley and Wynonna: 'We Are Navigating Profound Grief'

Indeed, early in the invitation-only event, Wynonna signaled that strength when Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the night's MC, described the mother and daughter's well-known turbulent relationship in his introductory remarks.

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"They joined voices," Young said, "and they joined forces, and they sang in harmony even when they didn't live in harmony."

A shout of "Amen!" — Wynonna's — lifted from the front row.

Jason Kempin/Getty Ashley Judd and Wynonna Judd

After the duo had spent years of hoping and waiting, this day was to be their crowning achievement together, anticipated since the 2021 Hall of Fame class was announced last August. Just three weeks ago, Wynonna and Naomi, 76, performed their signature anthem, "Love Can Build a Bridge," on the CMT Awards — across the street from the Hall of Fame building where their plaque would soon be hanging. That appearance, in turn, was priming the pump for their just-announced final tour this fall.

RELATED: The Judds Deliver Stunning Comeback Performance — with a Choir! — at the 2022 CMT Awards

All of it evaporated into one grief-stricken longing that Ashley Judd, joining her sister onstage, expressed during the induction: "I'm sorry that she couldn't hang on until today." (PEOPLE has confirmed Naomi died by suicide.)

Wade Payne/Invision/AP/Shutterstock Ashley Judd and Wynonna Judd

Before they took the stage, the two sisters sat side by side in the audience through a lengthy tribute, beginning with a video that traced the duo's hardscrabble beginnings in Kentucky, their improbable discovery in Nashville while Naomi was working as a nurse and Wynonna was still a teenager, their meteoric rise with their now-classic roots-based harmonies. Along the way, they earned 14 No. 1 singles, five Grammys, nine CMA awards and seven ACM awards.

RELATED: The Judds Enter the Country Music Hall of Fame, and Wynonna Says, 'It's About Damn Time!'

Young further put their accomplishments — and relationship — in perspective. "We can't ever know all their struggles, but we know all their songs," he said. "Their stories have been well documented, Naomi and Wynonna, a mother and daughter forced together and forged together. It's all complicated — and it all emerged in beauty and triumph."

Jason Kempin/Getty for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Ashley and Wynonna Judd

Fellow Kentuckian Carly Pearce then appeared to lend her voice in tribute, mouthing, "I love you," to Wynonna before delivering a heart-rending version of The Judds' 1986 No. 1 hit "Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days)."

As Wynonna listened and dabbed at tears, she stretched an arm over Ashley, who leaned in and rested her head on her big sister's shoulder. There were more tears when Americana artists Gillian Welch and David Rawlings performed "Young Love," a No. 1 hit for The Judds in 1989.

Terry Wyatt/Getty Carly Pearce

Country Music Hall of Famer Ricky Skaggs, another fellow Kentuckian, had the honor of inducting the Judds, but first the devout Christian offered solace from scripture. "Blessed are those who mourn," he said, quoting Matthew 5:4, "for they shall be comforted."

Skaggs also offered encouragement in the face of grief. "Not only are we feeling and mourning your mom's passing," he told Wynonna and Ashley, "but all of country music and all of the people around the world that love your music and love the Judds are here praying for you guys and just saying, keep going, keep going. Don't turn back."

RELATED: Naomi Judd Remembered by Fellow Country Stars Following Her Death at 76: 'Heartbreaking News'

Once Skaggs finally called Wynonna and Ashley to accept the honor, the audience leapt to their feet, and the sisters held a long embrace amid the ovation. With the two women finally onstage, Skaggs draped a Hall of Fame medallion around Wynonna's neck as Ashley ceremoniously bowed to her country-queen sister. Then, after the Judds' plaque was unveiled, Skaggs poignantly presented to Ashley the medallion that had been destined for her mother's neck.

Taking her turn at the microphone first, Ashley acknowledged her mother's love for the country music community in their midst. "And she appreciated your love for her," she said. "Your esteem for her and your regard for her really penetrated her heart, and it was your affection for her that did keep her going in these last years."

Terry Wyatt/Getty Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd

But then, acutely aware of how much focus was on who was missing in the moment, she turned her attention to the woman who was present beside her.

"I've always been so proud of the music and so proud of you," she told Wynonna. "So I know that we're talking a lot about mom tonight, as we should be — our beautiful mother ... " Her voice caught momentarily. "But I want you to know," she continued, gathering herself, "that you also are being inducted into the Hall of Fame tonight ... I love you and I'm proud of you. And mom is proud of you, and she always was."

Finally taking the microphone for remarks that lasted less than three minutes, Wynonna first turned to humor, making light of her mother's penchant for gab: "I didn't prepare anything tonight because I knew Mom would probably talk the most."

Terry Wyatt/Getty Wynonna Judd

She then offered thanks to several people pivotal in her life, beginning with her husband of almost 10 years, Cactus Moser, who was also in attendance.

"Though my heart's broken, I will continue to sing, because that's what we do," she assured the crowd, who responded with applause.

And then she spoke of her final moments with her mother the day before, telling how, "at 2:20, I kissed her on the forehead, and I walked away." Though she didn't indicate any further circumstances, she described a circle gathered around Naomi reciting perhaps the most beloved words in the Bible, the six verses of the 23rd Psalm. And then from memory, Wynonna tearfully, painstakingly recited them again for her rapt listeners, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ... "

She slowed in the final verse, emphasizing the syllable of each word — "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me in all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" — before she lifted her eyes and a hand heavenward.

Wade Payne/Invision/AP/Shutterstock Wynonna Judd

Sustained applause carried the sisters back into the audience, and Grammy-winning musician-producer Tommy Sims, who co-wrote Wynonna's 1996 song "Change the World," appeared onstage to deliver a soulful, comforting "Love Can Build a Bridge." Wynonna moved her lips to some of the familiar lyrics — co-written by her mother — as she bowed her head and wept.

"If I could, I would not say goodbye because that's not how I feel," Sims sang, adding his own coda to the song. "I know God is love and love is God and heaven is real / but these are just some of the words I was once told by a lady so dear / She said love can surely be the bridge / That is why we're here. Sure enough, that's why we're here. Don't you think it's time? Don't you think it's time?"

Wynonna could be heard raising her voice in affirmation: "Yes. Yes!"

Jason Kempin/Getty Wynonna Judd

The Judds were just one of four honorees at the annual event. Other inductees included two studio musicians, the late steel guitarist Pete Drake and drummer Eddie Bayers, and soul legend Ray Charles, whose forays into country brought millions to the genre. Among the performers were Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, and recent standout on The Voice, Wendy Moten.

Following tradition, the ceremony ended with a singing of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," considered the "national anthem" of country music. Hall of Famer Marty Stuart took over the lesser-known verses, and it was immediately clear that no song could be more appropriate for this broken and blessed evening: They describe the grief over a mother's death.

Wynonna and Ashley Judd had exited by then, but the crowd seized the moment and belted out the celebrated chorus with its message of hope and eternity: "There's a better home a-waiting / in the sky, Lord, in the sky."

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.