Photo: Thomas Crabtree
“Stagecoach is coming up and here I come,” Wynonna Judd said.
Judd looked ahead to the star-studded festival before its return on Friday (April 24) through Sunday (April 26) to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. The “No One Else On Earth” legend is taking the stage over the weekend, along with headliners Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson and Post Malone, plus Bailey Zimmerman, Red Clay Strays, Ella Langley, Riley Green, Journey, Litle Big Town, Dan + Shay, Brooks & Dunn, Hootie & the Blowfish, Warren Zeiders and many other artists.
Judd, 61, contemplated her stage wear, her hairstyle, hinted at her set list and more when she looked ahead to Stagecoach in a conversation with iHeartCountry last month. She said her favorite memories from the festival over the years include her late mother and The Judds duo partner, Naomi Judd. The Country Music Hall of Fame members previously shared the stage with renditions of hits that have been cemented as staples in the genre. Judd chuckled as she remembered a time that her mother “went and got a really bad spray tan,” but the show went on. “And (I was) laughing my butt off because she was so cute and so twirly, and had a really bad spray tan,” Judd reminisced, “so that’s my memory of Stagecoach.”
‘Music Is Such A Healer’
The Grammy-winning artist spotlighted a few favorite moments on stage, including when she performed “Love Can Build a Bridge” with Naomi, and the whole audience singing along. She described it as “one of those…‘we’re going to all ascend to Heaven right now together,’ moments on stage that you live for,” connecting everyone from age 8 to 80 with one powerful song. Judd also cherishes “really, really sweet” moments, like performing The Judds’ 1985 ballad, “Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout The Good Old Days).”
“It’s why we work 23 hours for that one hour on stage,” Judd said, later pointing out that “we try to make it look easy” to perform the show after working hard in a weeks-long rehearsal process. “We literally live for those moments when we can look out at the audience and make a connection with somebody who’s singing along. And you know, I see grown men tearing up, and I just think it’s important to continue to realize that music is such a healer. It really brings people together in a way that’s really necessary today in our country.”
Seeing Through ‘BS,’ Building Generation-Spanning Connections With ‘Real’ Music
Judd said “it’s everything” to see a show come together after giving it “everything” in the rehearsal process. More than 40 years into her career, Judd is a pro at quickly swapping her farm clothes for rhinestones and hitting the road. “I’ve been living this life since I was 17. Isn’t that crazy? It’s funny to think about it sometimes, and then other times I’m like, ‘wow, how did I do it? I don’t know.’ But I just continue to go until I can’t anymore, and that’s my goal. It’s not about No. 1s anymore. It’s not about that. It’s about connection and community, and the spirit knows when something is real.
“People know BS when they see it and hear it, and they don’t want it anymore,” she continued. Judd said she enjoys her time listening to Tedeschi Trucks Band, Turnpike Troubadours and others while sitting on her porch, or taking part in deep conversations around a fire. When she's not performing, Judd is embracing life as a “farm girl,” and spends every day cooking. “I have a lot of people that come sit around the fire and we, you know, we get very philosophical, and I hear people constantly say, ‘I’m just so tired of all the yelling and screaming and all the notes.’ Just sing it. …People are exhausted and they want something that’s real. And I’m trying really hard to stay that person. That’s my goal anyway. Plus, raising this 3-year-old [her granddaughter, who has since turned 4], she knows BS and she knows when I’m in a good mood and a bad mood. …[Kids are] absolutely honest to the point where I walk away laughing because she’s so freaking honest. She doesn’t give a crap about what number I am on the charts. I’m her ‘Nonie,’ and she tells me the truth. And my fans really love me and I love them. …We’re family.”
Since the ‘80s, Judd has shared meaningful moments with longtime fans. She’s observed firsthand how country music has a special, unique way of bringing people together across generations. Judd recently took a photo with four generations in one family attending her show.
‘Raised On Radio’
Judd is also preparing for a run of co-headlining shows with legendary rocker Melissa Etheridge. See the dates below. The two artists will kick off their “Raised On Radio Tour” this summer, paying tribute to the music that inspired them as they turned up their radios growing up. Judd said the pairing happened “naturally, and that’s why I love this tour.
“I absolutely come from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and that, to me, was when radio was so special,” she told iHeartCountry. The tour’s trailer shows Judd cruising down a winding road in her ’57 Chevy, “and it just reminded me of where I come from.” Judd spotlighted Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt and other iconic voices as some of her favorite memories when she listened to the radio around her small town’s square (fittingly, Judd closed out Women’s History Month with a tribute to “my shero,” Wynette, at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee). Judd remembers those moments as “the greatest time of my life.”
Judd is preparing for the co-headlining tour with Etheridge, and teased a single “unlike anything I’ve ever done.” Though she couldn’t say much as of publication time, Judd said people who view her as a “powerhouse vocalist” may be “shocked” by the raw vulnerability.
‘Be Different, Be Unique, Take A Chance’
“I think it’s really important to not compare yourself to others, and to stay away from the mainstream and do your thing authentically,” Judd said. “I think, for me, when I talk to the younger artists, I just say ‘follow your gut.’ …It’s really important for people to be unique, and not compare yourself to someone else and try to be someone else because there’s so much out there, as you know. …It’s just overwhelming. And all the ones that are popular, doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s sustaining. I’ve been doing this almost 43 years, and I’m still here because I think one of the things I’ve strived for in my own career is to be myself and to not compare myself to another artist and try to be that thing that’s going on in the world today. Be different. Be unique. Take a chance. …‘If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?’ is a question that I ask constantly.
“You just need to come see me,” Judd said as she wrapped up her conversation with iHeartCountry. “That’s all there is to it. …Let’s just go. Let’s go have a party.”
Raised On Radio Tour Dates:
*Previously announced
xOn-sale TBA
6.24.26 | Vienna, VA | Wolf Trap*
6.25.26 | Williamsburg, VA | Williamsburg Live
6.27.26 | Chautauqua, NY | Chautauqua Institution
6.28.26 | Bethel, NY | Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
6.30.26 | Huber Heights, OH | The Rose Music Center at The Heights
7.3.26 | Terre Haute, IN | The MILL Amphitheater
7.5.26 | Waite Park, MN | The Ledge Amphitheater
7.6.26 | Chisholm, MN | Minnesota Discovery Center Amphitheater
7.9.26 | Grand Junction, CO | Amphitheater at Las Colonias Park
7.11.26 | San Diego, CA | The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park
7.12.26 | Irvine, CA | Great Park Live
7.17.26 | Lincoln, CA | Thunder Valley Casino
7.18.26 | Rohnert Park, CA | Weill Hall + Lawn at the Green Music Center
7.19.26 | Reno, NV | Silver Legacy Downtown Ballroom
7.21.26 | Saratoga, CA | The Mountain Winery
7.23.26 | Bend, OR | Hayden Homes Amphitheater
7.24.26 | Seattle, WA | TBA
7.25.26 | Airway Heights, WA | BECU Live at Northern Quest
7.28.26 | Bonner, MT | KettleHouse Amphitheater
7.30.26 | Salt Lake City, UT | TBAx
8.2.26 | Morrison, CO | Red Rocks Amphitheatre (with the Colorado Symphony)
8.4.26 | Rogers, AR | Walmart AMP
8.5.26 | Albertville, AL | Sand Mountain Amphitheater
8.7.26 | Atlanta, GA | Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park
8.8.26 | Beaver Dam, KY | Beaver Dam Amphitheater
8.9.26 | West Allis, WI | Wisconsin State Fair Main Stage
9.11.26 | Allegan, MI | Allegan County Fair