Naomi Judd, country music matriarch of The Judds, is dead at 76

Her daughter Ashley apparently made the announcement on Twitter, stating only that she died of "the disease of mental illness."

As a member of The Judds with her daughter Wynonna, Naomi Judd recorded and performed as one of the most successful mother-daughter acts in country music before the group stopped performing in the early 1990s. The Judds' hits included 1984's "Mama He's Crazy," which won the group their first Grammy Award, 1985's "Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days)" and 1990's "Love Can Build a Bridge."

Last year The Judds were announced as inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and were set to be inducted on Sunday. The group had also recently announced a final tour, set to begin in September. "The fans have always been my family of choice," Judd said in a statement announcing the tour. "I love them dearly, so I'm chompin' at the bit to belt out our hits and reconnect with them once again."

Naomi Judd was born Diana Ellen Judd on January 11, 1946, in Ashland, Ky. and gave birth to Wynonna the week of her high school graduation. She moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, the New York Times reported in a 1984 profile at the beginning of The Judds' rise, where she worked as a model and a secretary before moving Wynonna and her other daughter, Ashley, back to Kentucky. It was then she and Wynonna began singing together casually.

The rest of the obit is at the link.