Judd was born Ashley Tyler Ciminella in Granada Hills, California. She is the daughter of Naomi Judd, a well-known country music singer Michael Ciminella, Jr., a marketing analyst. Judd has a half-sister, Wynonna Judd, who is also a country music singer
During the 1990s, Judd dated baseball player Brady Anderson, singers Lyle Lovett and Michael Bolton, and actors Matthew McConaughey and Robert De Niro. She became engaged to Dario Franchitti, in December 1999, and the two were married on December 12 2001.
