Keith Urban honored the late Naomi Judd during his headlining performance on Tuesday, May 3, at O2 Apollo in Manchester, England, on his The Speed of Now World Tour.
The country superstar and “Wild Hearts” singer took to social media to share the heartfelt performance with the country music community, who were also mourning loss of The Judds’ singer.
“Naomi Judd sowed so many important seeds in her precious time here. Here’s one of the many. On the other side of the world in Manchester tonight they were all singing ‘Love Can Build A Bridge,’” Urban captioned the clip. “Thank you, Naomi. We love you.”
The New Zealand-born, Australian musician kicked off his touching tribute performance with a message from the bottom of his heart, remembering the late country icon.
“I want to send a quick and very heartfelt acknowledgement out to the late, great, very influential, Naomi Judd,” the country hitmaker told the capacity crowd. “What The Judds did was astounding through the ’80s and she was the queen, the matriarch of it all and she wrote this song, which is amazing.”
The four-time GRAMMY winner went on to sing The Judds’ most celebrate hit, “Love Can Build A Bridge.”
While strumming his guitar, Urban began to sing the tune in front of a massive crowd, who joined Urban for a sing-along in honor of the late newly inducted Country Music Hall of Famer.
“Rest peacefully Naomi, we love you,” Urban concluded.
Watch the emotional tribute performance below.
Naomi Judd passed away at the age of 76 on Saturday (April 30), shocking the country music community.
Her passing was revealed on social media in a statement from her daughters. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement read. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
The unfortunate news comes just weeks after Naomi Judd and Wynonna Judd reunited for a performance of “Love Can Build A Bridge” at the 2022 CMT Music Awards.
Their performance coincided with the announcement of The Judds’ farewell tour, which was set to kick off on September 30 and hit 10 cities with support from Martina McBride.
The mother-daughter duo earned 14 No. 1 hits during their career that spanned nearly three decades, including “Love Can Build a Bridge,” “Mama He’s Crazy,” “Why Not Me,” “Turn It Loose,” “Girls Night Out,” “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain” and “Grandpa.”
Re-Live The Judds’ Final Performance Of “Love Can Build A Bridge”
The Judds toured in the ’80s where they had a catalog of twenty Top 10 hits, 20 million-plus albums sold, a combined 16 Gold, Platinum, and multi-Platinum albums, and The Judds Greatest Hits.
Since launching their career in 1983, the duo went on to release six studio albums and an EP. The superstar pair have also won several awards, including nine CMA Awards, seven Academy Of Country Music Awards and five GRAMMY Awards for hits like “Why Not Me” and “Give A Little Love.”
After rising to fame, the iconic country duo broke up in 1991 after Doctors diagnosed Naomi with hepatitis c.
In addition to her celebrated music career, Naomi was also an actress, having appeared in several TV movies and TV series.
On May 1, Wynonna Judd accepted the high honor of The Judds being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with her sister, Ashley, by her side. During their appearance at the event, the sisters paid tribute to their late mother with a tearful speech and by reciting a biblical verse.
