Nashville, Tennessee – In a bombshell revelation that has sent shockwaves through the country music world, Larry Strickland, the husband of the late Naomi Judd, has broken his silence two years after her death, confessing to a harrowing secret that had been buried for decades. In an exclusive interview for the upcoming Lifetime documentary “The Judd Family: Truth Be Told,” Strickland confirmed that Naomi once fired a gun at him during a moment of intense emotional crisis, an incident that he now says was a desperate cry for help from a woman battling severe mental illness.
The confession comes as part of a broader, painful unpacking of the Judd family’s private struggles, revealing a marriage that was far more turbulent than the public ever knew. Strickland, a former gospel singer who toured with Elvis Presley, married Naomi in 1989 after a decade-long courtship. But behind the glittering success of The Judds—the mother-daughter duo that won multiple Grammys—lay a fractured home life marked by Naomi’s deep-seated insecurities, childhood trauma, and a hidden battle with depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
According to Strickland, the gun incident occurred in the early 1990s, after he returned from a lengthy tour. He found their bedroom destroyed, wedding photos torn, and his belongings thrown onto the lawn. Naomi, he says, had received a phone call from a woman claiming to be in love with him.
In a state of overwhelming betrayal and fear, Naomi pointed a registered handgun at him and pulled the trigger. The bullet missed, but the emotional wound never healed. “It really happened,” Strickland said in the documentary.
“That’s all I can say. It was an act born from her emotional suffering. She didn’t mean to harm me.
She was overwhelmed, frightened, and felt completely alone.”
For years, the couple kept the incident secret, even allowing a fictionalized version to appear in a 1995 TV movie. Strickland chose not to call police or tell family. Instead, he quietly left for a few weeks, then returned after Naomi apologized.
“We made a silent agreement for love, for the career, and for the children,” he explained. But the trauma lingered, and Naomi’s mental health continued to deteriorate.
The confession sheds new light on Naomi’s final years, which were marked by severe depression, electroconvulsive therapy, and multiple inpatient stays. Strickland described the period from 2011 to 2013 as especially dark, when Naomi became disoriented, struggled to recognize faces, and withdrew from everyone. “If I had known where she was, I would have been much softer on her,” he admitted, expressing regret for not recognizing the severity of her condition.
Naomi died by suicide on April 30, 2022, just one day before she and daughter Wynonna were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her daughter Ashley found her. The timing devastated the family, but they proceeded with the ceremony.
Wynonna delivered a tearful tribute, while Strickland remained silent, grieving privately.
The revelations have also reignited controversy over Naomi’s will, which left her entire $25 million estate to Strickland, excluding both daughters. Public voicemails and journal entries revealed a family struggling with emotional distance and unresolved pain. Strickland now says he hopes his candor will help others facing similar battles with mental illness.
“When you have a mate that has a mental illness, you walk that path with them,” he told People magazine. “I want people to understand that love and support can make a difference, even when it’s hard.”
The documentary, set to air later this month, promises to be a raw, unfiltered look at the Judd family’s hidden truth. For Strickland, the confession is both a burden lifted and a call to action. “I’m not blaming anyone,” he said.
“I’m just telling the truth. Naomi was hurting, and I wish I had done more.” As the music world grapples with this new narrative, one thing is clear: the woman who sang “Love Can Build a Bridge” was fighting a war within herself that no song could ever heal.
