Pop: 10 Pressing Questions

She's just so darn happy

Wynonna - the Judd, not the shoplifter - finds lots to love in a life spent in the public eye for the past 18 years.

By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 28, 2002

[AP photo] Wynonna sings songs from many genres but says her roots are firmly planted in country.

(1) Wynonna, first of all, what's with all the shoplifting? (Wynonna laughs.)

What, wrong Winona? First of all, if that had been me, I would be in my mother's basement right now. I'd be in serious trouble. My mother -- talk about the Judd Judge. I would be in big trouble.

You've never shoplifted? A spirited gal like you? Oh, we've all done it. Absolutely. I remember one year we were on welfare -- we were actually coming out of it. We were all living in a rental two-bedroom house. I was wanting this shade of lipstick that was like "Rockin' Red" or something. We had no money. I was like 13, 14. We went to this one store a lot. I go in there and take a couple tubes of lipstick and I -- you know, I have never talked about this before, I can't believe you asked -- the guy follows me out and says, "Wynonna, what are you doing?' They wrote me up, and the guy took me down to the local jail. I was so mortified, I never did it again.

My mom had to come get me. They hooked me up with a counselor, and I had to go through this whole stealing management control thing. So, honey, no way. (Scared voice) I never went back to crime.

(2) All three of the famous women in your family are so strong-minded and opinionated. Do you notice this in your daughter, and are you scared of the teenage years? I am scared of very little, and I don't say that arrogantly. I have a lot of faith in my children. Out of the three of us -- myself, mom and Ashley -- I am the most dependent. From the time I was born until I was 30, I didn't leave the nest. Remember, I was part of a duo. I shared everything with a partner. When the Judds broke up, the separation anxiety lasted for four or five years. It's only been the last four or five years that I've been able to say, "Okay, I'm Wynonna alone-a. I'm a child of God, and by golly, I can do this by myself."

(3) You're into the holistic, self-help scene. What's the flakiest thing you do? (Wynonna laughs.) Do you meditate? Chant? Rub yourself with essential oils? (Creepy voice) I crawl on my belly like a reptile. To the stage. No, I tell you what I do. I'm the worst when it comes to taking care of myself. I'm learning how to be more of a human being, not a human doing. Women are really bad about this. We will go to bed thinking about the two or three things we didn't do, rather than celebrating the 10 or 15 things we did do.

(4) Let's say you're sitting down having tea with a friend and she says, "Wynonna, the one thing I love about you is --." Fill in that blank. The biggest compliment I can receive is when people come up and say, "What are you so darn happy about?" I say, you know, I have inner peace, and that shines through. The second thing is my sense of humor. I really love to laugh a lot. I've battled with depression over the last eight years, and the most important thing to me is laughter. My mother calls it "internal jogging," and she says, "Oh, I wanna stay fit!" She's so corny!

(5) In concert you sing from lots of genres: country, blues, soul, gospel. Do you consider yourself a "country artist?" Are you comfortable with that label? I've learned in life that any woman that you "diagnose" is more than likely more frustrated than inspired by that. It's frustrating for me sometimes because my roots are so firmly planted. I have a joke I tell onstage: "Honey, anybody who has been on a bus for 10 years with her mama and did her hair for free, well, if that ain't country . . ." (Laughs.)

Now, as a loner? As somebody who's cruising down the road on my Harley, I'm a real rebel. I strive every single day to shout from the rooftops -- forget the rooftops -- I shout from the mountains, "I will continue to strive to be authentic. How do I remain true to my art? How do I live between art and commerce?" (Slowly) Good freaking luck!

(6) I saw your sister, Ashley, on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and Rosie had five obscure words written on flash cards, and one by one your sister correctly defined them. (Wynonna laughs.)

How does your IQ compare with that of Little Miss Smarty Pants? My mom puts it like this: She says that Ashley isn't as smart as she acts and that I am really smarter than I act (laughs). I think she's right in that -- I have to be careful here. Ashley is the most loved person in my life . . . but Ashley grew up with words because she read a lot. She was forced to go to her room and be alone because mom and I were singing. From the time I was 18, I was the leader of a corporation where I had to make executive decisions for myself and others.

Ashley had a lot of education in books and learning Scripture and learning Shakespeare, going to college . . . I didn't have a college education, but I had to learn how to live with my mom on a bus and live in the public eye.

You're gonna laugh at me, but I travel with a dictionary when I'm around her. I go home and look up the words.

(7) What kind of gifts do you all give each other? I strive to give gifts from the heart. Some of them are really bizarre because I have such a crazy mother. When we went on the road together for the farewell tour, we were together for a year on this bus. . . . That road really healed her in so many ways. So I purchased that bus. Elvis bought his mother a Cadillac, I buy my mother a bus! (Laughs.) But the very next year I bought her a jumbo-sized jar of mayonnaise because she loves mayonnaise so much.

Another year, my mother's mother moved her house from one street to another. I took the tree that Mother played in as a child and had them chop it into wood and put it into storage for her so she can build something with it. This year, she'll probably get a hammer or something (laughs).

(8) What's one daredevil thing you'd never do? I won't jump out of a plane. There is no way. If you ever see me doing it --

We know someone's pushed you? Yes, someone has pushed me (laughs).

(9) I know everyone is concerned with your love life. You haven't been reading your tabloids?

No, get me up to speed. For 10 years I have worked with a man called D.R. Roach. It's very movielike, really, very love storylike. Like The Bodyguard. After my divorce (from Nashville businessman Arch Kelly in 1998), I fell in love with him in like, 24 hours. So, yes, I am engaged. We are getting married between now and 2004.

(10) Finally, talk about your favorite foods. It's hard to admit, but for the last two or three years I have had a lot of issues with food. When I was a very young girl, Ashley and I were home alone a lot. The only things we knew how to make were macaroni and cheese and Hamburger Helper. So those are comfort foods to me but not very good for me. When I'm tired and feeling down, I will go to my room and order something not very good for me. From the time I can remember, when I was on the road, one of the things I did to reward myself -- because I didn't drink or do drugs -- I picked food.

You spend all day making other people happy, so when the day is done, you want a little something for yourself? Exactly. A lot of something. A lot of something. You go back to your room, and sometimes it's extremely lonesome. You go from being with 10,000 people to being by yourself. It's like going from 100 miles per hour to zero.

It's a struggle. I was joking with someone the other day. I said, "I'd like to get back to my original weight, 8 pounds, 15 ounces!"(Laughs.)

Preview

Wynonna performs at 7 p.m. Sunday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. $39.75-$45. (727) 791-7400

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