Naomi Judd's tragic death has "forced" her daughters closer together.
The late musician - who was best known for appearing alongside Wynonna as part of 1980s singing duo The Judds - took her own life in April 2022 at the age of 76, and her widower Larry Strickland has revealed how Wynonna and Ashley have "come together" in their grief.
He told PEOPLE magazine: "They were forced together.
"We all had to come together around this trauma, this tragic event. And it, of course, opened our eyes about how short life can be and how fleeting.
"Realising that we lost a wife and mother, it forced us to be together, whether we wanted to or not."
Larry - who insisted he was "always" close to his late wife's daughters in some way - revealed he has also grown "closer" to them after Judd's death.
He added: "It just really drove me closer to them because they're what's left of [Naomi].
"We were close, I think, always in the early years and later years, but the fact that Naomi's gone and Wynonna and Ashley are the main part of her that's left, and it's what's still here for me to cling to and have in my life."
Meanwhile, Wynonna previously shared how she still felt her mother's presence in the years after her death.
Asked how she is coping with the loss, Wynonna told Us Weekly last summer: "I’m in a really good place. I’ve worked on forgiveness and my anger and frustration with suicide.
"[At a fan club party] last night, everyone had on Judds T-shirts from the ’80s and ’90s. I thought, 'I have a choice. I can either be better or bitter.'
"My grief comes and goes. I see it as a gift in terms of the healing part."
Asked if she still talks to her late mother, she insisted she does.
She added: "I do. On stage, I look up a lot because I see angels. Now I do it with Mom. I’m like, 'What the hell are you doing? Where are you and why are you not here? And why are we not singing together again?' "
