Wynonna Judd has responded to concerns about her "bizarre" performance at the CMA Awards 2023 on Wednesday.
The New York Post described her as appearing unsteady as she joined newcomer Jelly Roll onstage to sing "Need Favor" during the ABC live broadcast. Shortly afterward, viewers took to social media to express concern, with some saying she seemed "off" and that there appeared to be "something wrong with her."
"It was seriously bizarre," one person wrote on social media platform X, according to the Post. "I wonder what’s going on? She barely moved once she got a death grip on him."
After the event, Judd, 59, explained her behavior in a video posted to Instagram.
"I’m just gonna come clean with y’all. I was so freaking nervous," she said. "I got out there and I looked at Jelly Roll. I wanted it to be so good for him. I could cry right now, but I’m not going to because I’m such a fan of his and he asked me to sing and I said, ‘Absolutely!’ I got out there and I was so nervous that I just held on for dear life. And that’s the bottom line.”
The musician added that "all is well," and that she is heading back to Texas to continue her “Back to Wy Tour.”
Judd also spoke about her CMA set while backstage after the Nashville show.
"I have to show up for people like people did me,” Judd told “Entertainment Tonight.” “That’s my job now, is to pass it on because people have been so generous with me and now it’s my turn to be generous with people like Jelly Roll and that’s what I’m doing.”
Judd has encountered difficulties in recent times, canceling her "New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash" show in 2022 due to severe vertigo. Further, her mother, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Naomi Judd, died by suicide at the age of 76 the same year.
"I have my ups and my downs and that’s life, and I’m just telling the fans," Wynonna told "Entertainment Tonight." "Like the other night, I got emotional, I felt mom. And I got overcome and I just said, ‘I need some water and I need somebody to hold on to me for a second while I take a deep breath and cry.’ And I just do it because that’s the way life is."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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