Where was Naomi Judds husband when she died

Naomi Judd’s husband, Larry Strickland, was terrified of his late wife taking a flight alone because he knew she was in a “fragile” state.

The Grammy winner, who died on April 30, flew solo from Austria to Nashville for the Country Music Hall of Fame ceremony. The event took place one day after her death.

“I was really scared to death about her flying alone all the way from Vienna back to Nashville cause I knew how fragile she was,” Strickland, 76, recalled during CMT’s “Naomi Judd: A River of Time” special on Sunday.

The North Carolina native noted that Judd made it to Tennessee “without a problem,” sharing a message from a stranger that the Judds member met during the flight.

“It’s a small comfort, I’m sure, but my life seems a lot richer after meeting your wife, however briefly,” the email read.

“Obviously, I didn’t know Naomi at all, but I can tell you she spoke highly and warmly of you, and the life you shared together. Rest assured she loved you and had no qualms about telling me, a stranger on a plane, that was so.”

Strickland, who choked up while reading the letter, said that the note provided him “great, great pleasure and comfort.”

The songwriter’s daughters, Ashley and Wynonna Judd, honored their late mom at the Ryman Auditorium event as well.

Wynonna, 57, called her mother an “everywoman” on Sunday, saying, “Perhaps this is why everyone felt they knew her.”

The country singer also announced her plans to continue the 11-date national tour she previously scheduled with Naomi.

“I’m going to have to honor her and do this tour. I’m just going to have to,” Wynonna said. “The show must go on.”

As for Ashley, 54, the actress previously revealed that she was the one who found Naomi after she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“I went upstairs to let her know that [her] friend was there, and I discovered her,” the Emmy nominee explained during the May 12 “Good Morning America” interview. “I have both grief and trauma from discovery.”

Want more celebrity and pop culture news?

Start your day with Page Six Daily.

Enter your email address

Please provide a valid email address.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Thanks for signing up!
Want celebrity news as it breaks? Hooked on Housewives?

Check out more newsletters

While she and her family members felt “uncomfortable” sharing Naomi’s cause of death, they hoped to shine a light on mental health struggles.

“It’s very important to be clear and to make the distinction between the loved one and the disease,” Ashley explained. “The barrier between the regard in which [her peers] held her couldn’t penetrate into her heart, and the lie that the disease told her was so convincing.”

She and Wynonna announced their mom’s passing with a joint statement last month.

“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy,” the half-siblings tweeted in April. “We lost our beautiful mother to mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”

'It was a chaotic time': Naomi Judd's husband Larry Strickland describes the final months before her suicide as 'extremely hard'

• Larry Strickland shed new light on his late wife Naomi Judd's final months before she died by suicide in April, following a long battle with mental illness 
•  The 76-year-old gospel singer, who was married to Judd for 33 years, said she was seeing 'several therapists' and that 'her energy level had gotten really low'
•  'It was a very chaotic, hectic, hectic time,' the My Kitchen Rules star told People. 'It was extremely hard'
• If you or someone you know is considering suicide, help is available by dialing 988, texting 'STRENGTH' to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or going to 988lifeline.org to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. 

  Family, friends and fans of Naomi Judd gathered at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium Sunday evening (May 15) to remember the late singer who died April 30. Among those in attendance were her husband of 33 years, Larry Strickland.

   

  Advertisement

  View this post on Instagram

   

  A post shared by Larry Strickland (@larrystricklandmusic)

  
  Near the end of the 75-minute Naomi Judd: A River of Time Celebration that was televised on CMT, Strickland joined Naomi’s daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, on stage to share memories of his late wife and recalled events that transpired in the days prior to her death.

  “Naomi never met a stranger. Much to my displeasure, she would start a conversation with anyone who made eye contact with her. We’d end up standing 10, 20, 30 minutes on the sidewalk while she talked to a complete stranger about their passions and their dog,” Strickland said. 

  He shared that Naomi had been with him in Europe where he was on tour, but flew back home to Nashville on April 29th so she could be there in time for The Judds’ Country Music Hall of Fame induction on May 1. According to Larry, Naomi hadn’t flown alone in years as she usually had a personal assistant or someone else flying with her.

  “I was really scared to death about her flying alone all the way from Vienna back to Nashville cause I knew how fragile she was,” Larry said. “Well, she made the flight home back to Nashville without any problem.” 

  But, the day after Naomi passed away, Strickland received an email from a man named David who sat next to Naomi on her flight from Chicago to Nashville. For an unknown reason, Naomi had given David her husband’s business card. that small random act allowed a stranger to give Naomi’s widower “relief and comfort” after her death.

  In the email, David admitted to not knowing who Naomi Judd was as they visited for the duration of the 90-minute flight.

  “…the next 90 minutes we spent in each other’s company was not only entertaining, fascinating and enlightening, but also for me, at least, very enjoyable. It’s a small comfort, I’m sure, but my life seems a lot richer after meeting your wife.” Larry fought back tears as he read the last of the email. “I can tell you she spoke highly and warmly of you and the life you shared together. Rest assured she loved you and had no qualms of telling me, a stranger on a plane, that was so.”

  Larry Strickland, a former member of The Stamps Quartet and backup singer for Elvis Presley, met Naomi Judd in 1979. The pair wed a decade later at Christ Church in Nashville. The marriage was the second for Judd who revealed to Closer Weekly in 2013 that the secret to their long marriage was what they had in common.

  “We come from common backgrounds,” Judd said. “Larry and I are both from a family of six, very blue collar. He worked in the tobacco fields every summer. My daddy had his own gas station and taught me the hard work ethic. Larry is the most humble person I’ve ever met.”

  Are Naomi Judd and Larry Strickland still married?

  Larry Strickland is opening up about wife Naomi Judd's “chaotic” final months before she took her own life after years of mental health struggles. Strickland had been married to the country star for 33 years when she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 30 at the age of 76.

  How old is Naomi Judd's husband Larry Strickland?

  Sharing that Naomi flew home to Nashville from Vienna, Austria for the Country Music Hall of Fame ceremony, Strickland, 76, noted that her flying solo was out of the ordinary.

  How old was Naomi Judd when she married?

  They wed when she was only 17 years old, while she pregnant with her daughter Wynonna - whom she had with another classmate named Charles Jordan. Speaking of her first marriage years later, Naomi recalled: 'I got pregnant the first time I had sex.