A career of sixty years with multiple gold albums, the most awarded female artist and the only female ACM Artist of the Decade (1970s), and twenty-four No. 1 hit singles and eleven No. 1 albums. Loretta Lynn is an icon of country female artists in the music industry.
- What was her life like before her career took off?
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Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky on April 14, 1932 by the name of Loretta Webb (named after the film star Loretta Young). The eldest child with many siblings, her mother was a housewife and her father was a coal miner and subsistence farmer. She was the cousin of Patty Loveless, country singer, and Venus Ramey, Miss America of 1944. Loretta Lynn married at the age of fifteen to Oliver Vanetta “Doolittle” Lynn, after they met a month earlier. Afterward, they moved to Kentucky where she had the first of her six children. Her husband bought her a $17 guitar in 1953 where she taught herself how to play. She started her own band, Loretta and the Trailblazers with her brother, Jay Lee. Often appearing at Bill’s Tavern in Blaine, Washington and the Delta Grange Hall in Custer, Washington with the Pen Brothers’ band and the Westerneers. In February 1960, she created her first record, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” She entered the music scene in Nashville in the 1960s, where she had the first of her 16 No.1 hits, out of seventy charted songs as a solo artist and duet partner in 1967. Calling her mentor as her career started, Patsy Cline.
- Her Music Discussed Women’s Issues
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Her music was about blue-collar women’s issues with different themes ranging from husbands having affairs to persistent mistresses. Many of her songs were inspired by her own marriage, but she pushed themes about birth control, repeated childbirth, double stands for both genders, and being a widow by the draft during the Vietnam War. Country music radio stations did not play her music in which they banned nine of her songs, but this gave her fuel to become a legendary artist of country music.
- What are some of her music experiences and hits?
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She is famous for many hits, some include “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin,” “First City,” and One’s on the Way.” In May 2010, she performed at the Nelsonville Music Festival in Nelsonville, Ohio and also at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 11, 2011. President Richard Nixon had Invited her to the White House and she was the first solo female country artist to perform. Later returning to perform during the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.
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“Coal Miner’s Daughter”
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Her hit, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” was created into an autobiography and biographical film in the Academy Award in 1980. It became the No. 1 box office hit in the United States. It also became a No. 1 bestseller on The New York Times Best Seller List, making Loretta Lynn the first country music artist to make the list. In 2002, she published her second autobiography, Still Woman Enough, which was on The New York Times Best Seller as a top 10. In 2004, she published a cookbook called You’re Cookin’ It Country. In 2012, she published her third autobiography, Honky Tonk Girl: My Life in Lyrics.
- Her ranch is known as “the Seventh Largest Attraction in Tennessee”
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She has many properties and continues to contribute to the music industry. Her ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee is known as “the Seventh Largest Attraction in Tennessee.” Some of its features include museums, lodging, and a recording studio. A replica of the cabin she grew in is on the property, along with a large plantation home where she lived with her husband and children. Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Championship motocross race was hosted at the ranch and it was the largest amateur motocross race of its kind. Along with hosting the GNCC Racing Events. In the mid-1970s, they built a house in Teacapán, Mexico. They bought a cabin in Canada.
- What were some of her accomplishments?
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– The first woman to be nominated and win Entertainer of the Year at the CMA awards in 1972, along with winning Female Vocalist of the Year & Duo of the Year with Conway Twitty.
– The first female country artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1977.
– In 1995, Loretta tapes a seven-week series on the Nashville Network, Loretta Lynnn & Friends.
– She was presented the Pioneer Award at the 30th Academy of Country Music Awards in 1995.
– Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1982, the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.
– Honored at the Country Music Awards in 2010
– President Barack Obama had awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.
– Member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1962 and has recorded 70 albums, 54 studio albums, 15 compilation albums, and one tribute album.
– First country star on the cover of Newsweek
– In 2000, she was the first woman in country music to chart singles in five decades with her album Still Country.
– Recipient of Kennedy Center Honors Award given by the U.S. president in 2003.
– Was named Artist of a Lifetime by CMT in 2018.
Current Day
Loretta Lynn had contributed many efforts to not only the music industry, but to women’s rights, politics, and she is still impacting the world today. She visits her ranch regularly to say hi to guests and tries to continue her daily duties. The world has definitely been impacted by the legendary Loretta Lynn forever and always.
*This article was written using many sources*