Wynona

March 22, 2009

Wynona
Rick Coates 3/23/09

She is in that one-name club, like Oprah and Bono (both good friends who attended her wedding) and is known worldwide as one of the all-time great country music female artists. Wynonna (Judd) rolls into town this Friday to the Little River Casino Resort in Manistee with a new tour bus, a new CD, and a new outlook on life.
“I feel I’ve come full circle and I’m back to where I started: an 18-year-old girl sitting on the back porch playing and singing her heart out,” said Wynonna. “I’m ready to begin the journey again.”
That journey has included a life filled with ups and downs. On the upside, she sold more than 20 million CDs as part of the duo known as the Judds (with her mother) and another 15 million albums as a solo artist. Rolling Stone magazine referred to her as “the greatest female country singer since Patsy Cline.” The rockers love her as well, as the Rolling Stones, U2 and Phish all have asked her to join them on stage.
But despite millions of fans and millions of dollars, Wynonna has had her struggles with heartbreak, eating addiction and plenty of other struggles that she has both sung and written about in her autobiography Coming Home To Myself that made the New York Times Bestseller List a few years ago.
Throughout her life, in her darkest moments Wynonna has always turned to music for comfort. Her seventh solo release “Sing: Chapter 1,” (released last month) quickly climbed to number 5 on the Billboard album country music charts which speaks volumes to Wynonna’s popularity with country fans since the album contains country, rock, blues and soul standards that Wynonna says formed the “soundtrack to her own life.”

‘SONGS THAT MOVED ME’
“All my musical chapters are here,” said Wynonna. “Every genre. These are the songs that have moved me ever since I was a little girl. These are the songs I have turned to for comfort and insight at every point of my life.”
Right now, Wynonna finds herself at a good place in her life. She divorced her second husband, D.R. Roach, a couple of years ago. Roach was her longtime bodyguard and they married in 2003; he was arrested on child sex charges just before their divorce. She has been battling weight issues for years but she has found a way to put it all into perspective.
“I just look at myself and realize that I am a work in progress,” said Wynonna. “I have real life struggles just like my fans do. I am celebrating 25 years of touring, performing and recording. So I am trying to stay positive and make choices that are right for me. I have made plenty of mistakes in my life, but who hasn’t? I am blessed to have the support of a lot of fans.”
As for her issues with weight gain, Wynonna has made that the focus of her current tour being sponsored by alli, the only FDA approved over-the-counter weight loss pill.
“It was really important for me to maintain integrity. I’ve passed on a lot of products. Because I cannot sit here and tell other people to take something that, number one, I’m not willing to do myself; and number two, that isn’t safe,” said Wynonna. “I even took the product before I got signed on to be a spokesperson -- so I had to walk that walk, too.”
In her search to find the right weight loss program for her Wynonna found several things that she liked about alli.
“I take alli because it fits into my schedule -- we feel so much like we have to fit into other people’s programs, and alli fits into my schedule. I can plan it based on my lifestyle and not feel such a sense of failure as I have in the past on other programs. I chose alli because it’s FDA approved. I come from a mom who’s a nurse, and it’s really important to me to have information, which is power, and knowing that it’s safe.”
Her alli tour bus will be open for those interested to visit before her show at Little River Casino. The tour bus, which is decorated with alli information and Wynonna guitars, photos and quotes will open its doors at 5 p.m. and will be parked outside the Little River Casino entrance.
Wynonna is also looking forward to introducing her fans to the songs that have meant so much to her over the years.
“It really does get down to just singing the song. At the end of the day, music is here to produce a memory for people,” said Wynonna. “Look at all the memories these songs inspired for me. I’m able to show up and be present. That’s what I’m breathing into these songs. I’m not so hell-bent on the destination that I forget the journey.”

For Wynonna, the journey has not always been an easy one but she has always managed to pick up the pieces and move on. Tickets are selling quickly for her Friday, March 27 performance at the Little River Casino Resort in Manistee. Additional information on Wynonna is at wynonna.com or to purchase tickets call 800-585-3737.