Wynonna Judd is used to performing on TV shows in front of millions of fans, but hosting is an entirely different experience. Still, the Country Music Hall of Fame member was eager to host this year’s holiday special, Christmas at the Opry, airing on NBC on December 7 at 8:00 PM ET.
The star-studded event featured performances by some of country music’s biggest stars, including Trace Adkins, Brenda Lee, Chris Janson, Lauren Alaina, Mickey Guyton, Mitchell Tenpenny and more.
“This is having to be patient and be still,” Judd tells Everything Nash. “The Bible says ‘Be still.’ And so, I have to stand there really still, without my guitar. And I feel like Miss America in a pageant. I feel like I’m up there, and I’m doing this job that is just a little foreign, I’ll be honest. And yet I’m kind of digging it, ’cause it’s my first time. So I’m willing to do just about anything.”
Judd loves everything about the holidays, especially the chance to be with her family and loved ones.
Courtesy of NBC/Katherine Bomboy
“Cooking and wearing the Nonnie apron,” Judd says of her favorite part of Christmas, referring to the name given to her by her grandchild. “I wear a Nonnie apron ’cause that’s what my grandbaby calls me. And I love to give that perfect meal to my family because I work all year, and I cruise really fast. I shut it all down. I wear my pajamas, and I just cook and I stand around and I listen. I listen to my children tell me things, and it’s just a time of reflection as well as celebration for me. ’cause I work all year.”
Judd’s music with her mother, Naomi Judd, was honored with the album, A Tribute to the Judds, out now. Judd sang on one song on the record, “Cry Myself To Sleep,” a collaboration with Trisha Yearwood.
“It’s one of my favorite memories, because Trisha Yearwood and I go way back, yet we were not connected in a personal way until now,” Judd told Everything Nash. “She came to the farm, we sat on the back porch, we fellowshiped and we talked about our lives, being married, everything that’s gone wrong in our lives. And we stood there in the studio, just the two of us side by side, singing live.
“That doesn’t happen anymore, because of the technology,” she continued. “You can fly a song to another state, and someone can sing on it and you pass it back and forth until it’s done. But this was done live, and kind of old-fashioned, in a way that you don’t hear about anymore. So it’s my favorite memory, hands down.”
Other artists appearing on A Tribute to the Judds, include Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani, Jelly Roll, Dolly Parton, Lainey Wilson, Reba McEntire, Ashley McBryde, Gabby Barrett, Jamey Johnson, Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson, and more,
Purchase the record here.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC/Jim Wright