Wynonna and Naomi Judd arrive on the Red Carpet for "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: Jim Hagans / CMA.

Fans who attended the CMA Music Festival in Nashville last June saw an emotional reunion of the Judds, as Naomi Judd — forced to retire from the road when she contracted hepatitis C — wiped away tears as the duo sang some of its classic songs for thousands of fans. The crowd gave Naomi and Wynonna an outpouring of affection, and Mama Judd looked to be yearning for a more permanent return to the stage that once served as her second home.

That might well happen once the calendar turns to another year. Some sort of reunion appears to be in the works for the two singers who dominated the duo category at country awards shows before the emergence of Brooks & Dunn.

“We are ‘in talks,’ so there’s nothing that’s been defined yet,” Wynonna told Billboard magazine. “I just felt it in my spirit. A couple weeks ago I said, ‘It’s 2010. It’s been 25 years. It’s take-your-mother-to-work year.’ It just feels like it’s the right time. She’ll be 64 in January, and I think it’s time — not the whole year, but it’s just going to be a way to celebrate her.”

The Judds dominated the 1980s, earning their first No. 1 single in 1984 with “Why Not Me,” and building such good-time hits as “Turn Me Loose,” “Girls Night Out” and “Have Mercy” before hep C kicked Naomi off the road in 1991. Even though the duo essentially disappeared, the songs endured, and that was particularly clear during last summer’s CMA Fest.

“We sang for 50,000 people, and they sang back to us and it was a holy moment,” Wynonna said. “On the drive home I thought, ‘You know, I really appreciate where I’ve come from and the people do, too, and they love the Judds music and it hasn’t disappeared.’ I just thought, ‘You know, I think it’s time.’”

Regardless of the duo’s future, Wynonna has a solo Christmas tour on the books to close out 2009. The tour kicks off Nov. 28 in Hershey, Pa., and covers 16 shows through Dec. 20, when she wraps the itinerary with a performance at the Hilton in Las Vegas.

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