Wynonna Judd to Recreate the Judds' 1991 Farewell Concert in a New TV Special: 'A Big Deal for Me'

Just days after announcing "The Judds: The Final Tour" will expand to 15 more dates, Wynonna Judd has revealed yet more big news: She will be re-creating The Judds Farewell Concert — the now-legendary TV special that aired in 1991 — for national broadcast on CMT next March.

Judd has been bringing out other artists one at a time on her current tour, but tour-mates Ashley McBryde, Brandi Carlile, Kelsea Ballerini and Little Big Town will all be featured on the televised show, The Judds: Love is Alive — The Final Concert. Tour opener Martina McBride is also scheduled to join the cast, with additional guests to be announced.

The concert will be recorded next Thursday in the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, the same arena where the original special was staged.

"This is a big, fat, hairy deal for me," Judd said during a news conference on Wednesday in a Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, restaurant not far from her home south of Nashville. "We are taking full advantage of the love and support."

She was referring, of course, to the overwhelming audience response that she's been experiencing since she hit the road on Sept. 30 with the tribute tour. It was originally planned as a final reunion for her and her mother, Naomi Judd. But after a long struggle with severe depression, the Judds matriarch lost her life to suicide on April 30, the day before the duo's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Two weeks later, at her mother's public memorial celebration in Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, Judd announced she planned to honor the tour commitment.

At the news conference, Judd spoke at length about the crowd reactions at the concerts so far.

"I will tell you, as an artist, I've never experienced this kind of emotion at a show," she said. "They're singing so loud that I stand back from the microphone and just weep because there's a revival taking place. I think it's because of the death of Mom and also the life that I've had for 39 years on the road. The fans grew up with me and they're losing their parents and they're bringing their mothers. And it's just a chance for people to express themselves and, boy, are they! … I've done so many shows where I literally fall on my knees because the love is so strong."

The intensity of these moments, she said, has caused a whole swirl of reactions in her: "It's the most emotional I've ever been and the most vulnerable I've ever felt, and the strongest I've ever been able to sing … It's a remarkable combination of joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure."

Judd said she's also experiencing the challenges of sharing the stage with her new partners.

Ballerini, the youngest on the tour at age 29, surprised Judd with her depth of knowledge of the Judds catalog.

"I'm passing the torch to Kelsea, who wasn't even born when a lot of my songs were out," Judd said, "and that's weird as heck. I'm looking at her and she's singing some of the deep cuts, and she knows the words and I'm going, whoa."

Judd also recalled a moment, during a duet with McBryde, when the younger artist decided to assert herself.

"Here comes Ashley McBryde, like 'get out of the way, I'm coming,'" Judd jovially recounted. "And [she] takes over your song and you take a step back and you're like, really? I admire [her] courage. She took over the song because she has known it for however many years and sung at karaoke, and she decided 'it's my turn.' And she took over and I let her. It's like the elderly dog letting the baby dog, the puppy, take the treat and not bite the puppy. I let her have the treat."

At another concert, Yearwood seized the moment of two powerhouse vocalists on the same stage, and she threw down the gauntlet.

"If she wasn't wearing a dress, I would've knocked Trisha down," Judd quipped. "She challenged me vocally, and it was a sing-off for a minute. It was amazing. … She got right in my face and I think we even touched bras. We got really connected and really sang, and it was amazing. It was almost as good as wrestling. I'm serious. It was a really good moment."

But who won the contest?

"She let me win because she backed up and bowed," Judd said. "It was my party!"

Tickets to The Judds: Love is Alive — The Final Concert are now on sale. The special, a collaboration between CMT and Sandbox Productions, is scheduled for airing in March 2023, the month after Judd closes the tour.

Part of the proceeds from the concert special will support the Tennessee affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the country's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with serious mental illness and their families.