On This Day in 1992, Wynonna Judd Scored Her Second Solo No. 1 with “I Saw the Light”

On this day (July 19) in 1992, Wynonna Judd landed her second No. 1 as a solo artist with “I Saw the Light.” The song stayed at the top of the charts for multiple weeks and solidified the success of Judd’s solo career.

Wynonna started her career in the groundbreaking mother-daughter duo The Judds alongside Naomi Judd. Between signing their initial recording contract in 1983 and disbanding due to Namoi’s health issues in 1991, the duo launched 15 singles to the top of the chart. They also collected five Grammy Awards. In 1992, Wynonna kicked off her solo career with her self-titled debut album.

Wynonna Judd Sees Early Solo Success

Wynonna topped the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and landed at No. 4 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart. The album produced four singles with the first three—“She Is His Only Need,” “I Saw the Light,” and “No One Else on Earth”—going to No. 1. The album’s final single—“My Strongest Weakness”—peaked at No. 4.

Written by Lisa Angelle and Andrew Gold, “I Saw the Light” was the second of Wynonna Judd’s three No. 1 solo singles. It topped the chart for three weeks.

“I Saw the Light” is a song about a woman who goes to her boyfriend’s house to surprise him but catches him cheating. According to Songfacts, the lyrics were autobiographical for Angelle.

“There was a boyfriend that I had that I pulled up to his house to actually surprise him, and I saw the curtain move and I saw him lay a big, fat kiss on a beautiful, long dark-haired girl,” she recalled. “I got really mad at him. So, I went and picked a rose out of his rose garden and put it on his front porch. Then, I went home and wrote ‘I Saw the Light’ for Wynonna Judd,” she added.

Judd would not see a run of hits like the one she got from her debut album again. However, eight of her nine solo albums would go on to be top 10 hits on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart three of them topped the survey. Her 2016 album Wynonna & the Big Noise missed the mark by four slots.

Featured Image by Sterling Munksgard