Wynonna Judd responds to concerned fans after needing support on CMAs stage

Wynonna Judd has reassured fans after her performance at the Country Music Association Awards sparked concern.

Country star Judd appeared on stage with Jelly Roll (real name Jason Bradley DeFord) to perform the rapper’s hit single, “Need a Favor”.

However, Judd, 59, worried fans as she appeared to cling to DeFord’s sleeve for support while she sang.

“Something is wrong with her. Hope she is ok. Wynonna Judd is holding on to Jelly Roll for dear life,” one person wrote on Twitter/X after the performance.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday (9 November), Judd explained that her on-stage behaviour was due to extreme nerves.

“Okay so they say don’t read the comments – I’ve read the comments,” Judd said in the video post. “And I’m just gonna come clean with y’all – I was so freaking nervous. I got out there and I looked at Jelly Roll, I wanted it to be so good for him.”

She continued: “I could cry right now, but I’m not going to, because I’m such a fan of his, and he asked me to sing and I said absolutely.”

Addressing fans’ concerns about her, she said: “I got out there and I was so nervous that I just held on for dear life. And that’s the bottom line.”

The “Burnin’ Love” singer concluded by updating fans that she was en route to Texas for the next date on her Back to Wy Tour.

“I’ll be on stage tomorrow night with the people I love the most, and with you, the fans I love the most,” she said. “And all is well.”

Elsewhere at the CMA Awards ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, Tracy Chapman took home Song of the Year thanks to Luke Combs’s cover of “Fast Car”– 35 years after her song was originally released.

The win makes Chapman the first Black artist to take home the award for Song of the Year. In addition to her win, “Fast Car” also earned Combs, 33, an award as his cover was named Single of the Year.

Chapman spoke favourably of Combs’s cover when it reached No 1 position on the Country Airplay chart in the US back in July. With his rendition, she became the first Black woman to top this chart as a sole songwriter since it began in 1990.

“I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there,” the singer, who is rarely seen in public, said. “I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”