Singer Loretta Lynn Dies at 90
Country singer Loretta Lynn, known for her song “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” died on October 4, 2022. She was 90. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was also the title of her first memoir, which was made into a movie about her life.
Born Loretta Webb in 1932, she grew up poor, one of eight children, living in Appalachian Kentucky. She sang both at church and at home. She said, “We were poor but we had love; That’s the one thing that daddy made sure of.”
Loretta Webb married Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn when she was 15, and she had six children in quick succession. Her husband remarked that when she sang to their children she sounded better than the women on the radio, and he bought her a guitar. She performed where she could, and before long she was singing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Soon she had a contract with Decca Records and became friends with country star Patsy Cline. Cline helped Lynn navigate her newfound stardom until Cline died in a 1963 plane crash.
Other Lynn hits include “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)” and “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man).” With the latter song, Lynn became the first woman to write a No. 1 country hit, in 1966.
Her songs were stories taken from her life, including her 48-year marriage, both the good and the bad. She wrote about controversial topics, including alcoholism, divorce, and birth control. She said, “I wrote from life, how things were in my life. I never could understand why others didn’t write down what they knew.”
Lynn won many accolades, including three Grammys and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Following a stroke and a broken hip, she stopped touring, but she continued recording. In 2021, she recorded her final album, “Still Woman Enough.”
Loretta Lynn died at home, at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. The property has six museums, a camping facility, and a concert venue, and it hosts the annual AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship.
She is survived by four of her six children. Learn more about Loretta Lynn in her own words.
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SOURCES
Beaumont-Thomas, Ben. “Loretta Lynn, country singer of love and hardship, dies aged 90.” The Guardian, October 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/04/loretta-lynn-country-singer-of-love-and-hardship-dies-aged-90
Carter, Maria. “15 Things You Didn’t Know About Loretta Lynn.” Country Living, October 4, 2022, https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/g3088/things-you-didnt-know-about-loretta-lynn/
Gumbrecht, Jamie and Andrew, Scottie. “Loretta Lynn, coal miner’s daughter turned forthright country queen, dies at 90.” CNN, October 4, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/entertainment/loretta-lynn-obit/index.html
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