Wynonna Ellen Judd (born May 30, 1964) is an American country music singer. Born Christina Claire Ciminella^[1], she is frequently referred to by the single name Wynonna, a name she took from the lyric, "Don't forget Winona" from the song Route 66 ^[2], /waɪˈnoʊnə/. Wynonna made her debut as the lead singer of the 1980s country music duo The Judds, of which her mother Naomi Judd was also a member. Between 1983 and 1991, The Judds charted twenty-three hit singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles charts (including fourteen Number Ones), in addition to recording eight studio albums plus two Greatest Hits compilations. After a bout of hepatitis forced Naomi to retire, Wynonna embarked on a solo career.

Wynonna made her solo debut in 1991 with the release of her eponymous debut album, which produced three straight Number One singles and was certified 5x platinum in the United States for sales of over five million. Since then, Wynonna has charted nineteen singles on the U.S. Billboard country charts, of which four have reached Number One.

Biography

Judd was born in Ashland, Kentucky, at King's Daughter Medical Center. Her given name at birth was Christina Claire Ciminella. She was given the last name of Michael Ciminella, her sister Ashley's biological father. Her biological father was Charles Jordan, who died in 2000.

Her immediate family consists of her mother, Naomi Judd, half-sister, Ashley Judd, son Elijah Judd (born December 23, 1994), daughter Grace Pauline (born June 21, 1996), and her second husband and former bodyguard, D. R. Roach (married November 22, 2003). [1] Wynonna filed for divorce from Roach on March 27, 2007 after his arrest for sexual assault on a child under the age of 13.

Before launching her solo career, Wynonna sang with her mother as part of one of the most successful and celebrated country music duos . Together, they were known as The Judds. Wynonna is an active and vocal member of the Recording Artists' Coalition, an American music industry organization that represents recording artists, and attempts to defend their rights and interests. Some of her achievements include 20 #1 singles, multiple gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums, multiple Grammy awards and a performance at Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994. In 2000, she shared the stage with rock band Phish.

In November 2003, Wynonna appeared on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show discussing what she described as a "severe" dependency on food. She has been working with the show in an effort to lose a significant amount of weight and get to the root of her dependency. In September 2005 Wynonna made a second appearance on the show, discussing how she has lost some weight (but has yet to reach her goal weight); has patched up broken relationships with her mother, and with the man she considers "her dad", Michael Ciminella, from whom she had also been estranged for almost a decade. Both Naomi and Michael have visited Wynonna at the Shades of Hope rehab center in Buffalo Gap, Texas during a family visit, where Wynonna, 42, was being treated for food addiction. In September 2005, in an interview for The Insider, Wynonna also talked about being sexually assaulted by an acquaintance when she was younger.

Wynonna published her memoir, Coming Home to Myself, in September 2005, which became a New York Times Bestseller.

She co-hosted the fourth season of the USA Network series Nashville Star with Cowboy Troy.

On October 10, 2006 Wynonna released her first Christmas Album, A Classic Christmas, as a solo artist. The single that was released, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, peaked at #3 on the AC charts.

In April, 2007 Wynonna was back in the studio with longtime producers Brent Maher and Don Potter to record a follow up to 2003's, "What The World Needs Now Is Love"

Wynonna is also appearing on an album with Ann Wilson and several other artists called "Hope And Glory", which was released on September 11th.

Other accomplishments

Although she is associated with the country genre, she has also ventured into other music genres by allowing her cover version of "I Want To Know What Love Is" to be released as a dance track, where it peaked at number 12 on Billboard Radio Monitor's Hot Dance Airplay chart in 2005.

In 2001, Judd joined Huey Lewis on a duet on the album Plan B for the song "I'm Not in Love Yet".

Discography

Albums

Singles

• ^AReached #1 on Radio & Records country singles charts.
• ^B"I Want To Know What Love Is" also peaked at #12 on Hot Dance Airplay.

References

• Millard, Bob. (1998). "Wynonna Judd". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 272.
• Millard, Bob. (1998). "The Judds". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 272-3.

Notes

External links

• Wynonna official website
• The first German fanpage
• Template:Myspace
• Template:Myspace True Anecdote