Celebrity Couples
Who Is Naomi Judd’s Husband? The Late Singer’s Marriage to Larry Strickland
Warning: This post contains references to suicide.
Before Naomi Judd died by suicide in April 2022, she was married to her husband, Larry Strickland, for 33 years. The two were together for 10 years before tying the knot in 1989 with Judd’s daughters, Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd, by her side.
Strickland said that the last few months of his wife’s life were “a very chaotic, hectic, hectic time,” telling People, “It was extremely hard. She had several therapists that she was seeing, and her energy level had gotten really low. She was getting really weak.”
On Mother’s Day weekend, he’ll appear alongside Wynonna and Ashley in the Lifetime docuseries The Judd Family: Truth Be Told. Scroll down to learn more about Strickland and his marriage to the country legend.
Who is Larry Strickland?
Like Naomi Judd, Larry Strickland originally worked in the music industry. He fell in love with gospel music after attending a concert with his dad as a child, and then started singing professionally after finishing high school. Following a four-year stint in the Army, he returned home and worked a full-time job during the week and performed on the weekends.
From 1974 to 1979, he was a member of the J.D. Sumner and the Stamps quartet and sang backup for Elvis Presley (he also worked with the group again from 1987 to 1988).
After marrying Judd, he began managing his wife’s “personal business and career,” he told Elvis.com. “She has a TV show [Naomi’s New Mornings] on the Hallmark Channel on Sunday morning (it ran for two years in 2005 and 2006). We actually shoot it in New York. Plus, she does books and touring, speaking tours, not singing. I do that and I sing once and a while with a gospel group called Classic Sound Quartet.”
How did Naomi Judd and Larry Strickland meet?
The two met in 1979 after crossing paths thanks to their respective music careers. They tied the knot on May 6, 1989.
“We come from common backgrounds,” she told Closer Weekly in 2013. “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.”
After Judd’s death, Strickland told People, “If I had known where she was, I would’ve been much softer on her. I would’ve been gentler and more understanding instead of tired and exhausted because it was wearing me out, too. To know now that she was contemplating [suicide], I look back and just wish I had been holding her and comforting her instead of pushing her. I don’t know if that would’ve helped, but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt.”
Does Larry Strickland have kids?
Strickland does not appear to have any children of his own, but he is a stepfather to Wynonna and Ashley. Wynonna was a teenager and Ashley was a pre-teen when their mom met Strickland.
Who was Naomi Judd’s first husband?
Prior to Strickland, Judd was married to Michael Ciminella from 1964 to 1972. When they met, she was raising Wynonna as a single mother after being abandoned by her daughter’s father, Charles Jordan. Ciminella, who is Ashley’s biological father, adopted Wynonna, and she didn’t find out the identity of her real father until she was 30 years old.
Ciminella has worked in marketing and advertising but has mostly stayed out of the public eye.
The Judd Family: Truth Be Told, Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11, 8/7c, Lifetime
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or dial 988. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
