Watch Wynonna Judd and Brandi Carlile sing 'The Rose' at Naomi Judd's public memorial concert
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Nashville said good bye to country legend Naomi Judd on Sunday with a memorial concert at Ryan Auditorium. Oprah Winfrey and Salma Hayek were among the fans who recorded messages for the memorial, broadcast on CMT — Hayak said meeting Judd was like "meeting Scarlett O'Hara," while Winfrey said the singer taught her that "country music is all about real people and real stories," and Judd formed "a rooted connection to all of us, and left a 'heart print' on our hearts."
Wynonna Judd, Naomi Judd's daughter and longtime singing partner, announced that she will carry on with the 11 tour dates she and her mother had scheduled before her suicide, explaining, "The show must go on, as hard as it may be." And she sang — the 1990 Judds hit "Love Can Build a Bridge" with a choir from the family's Pentecostal church, their song "River of Time" that also served as the theme for the memorial service (and the title of Naomi Judd's memoir about battling depression), and a show-stopping performance of the Bette Midler hit "The Rose" with Brandi Carlile
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
