Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn (born April 14, 1935) is an American country singer who was the leading country female vocalist during much of the 1960's and 1970's. In the 1970's she became one of the most famous women in all of America and frequently made "most admired women" polls alongside first ladies and world leaders.

Early Life

Born to Ted and Clara Webb, Loretta Webb (named after movie star actress Loretta Young) grew up in Butcher Hollow, a small mining community in Johnson County, Kentucky, and was married to Oliver Vanetta Lynn (commonly known as "Doolittle", "Doo", or "Mooney") in January, 1948, a few months before she turned 14.Country Weekly staff writer (2002). "Loretta Lynn" Country Weekly (accessed June 9, 2006) Lynn moved to Washington with her husband at the age of 14. The Lynns had four children by the time Loretta was 17, and she was a grandmother at age 29. Loretta always had a passion for music, before getting married she regularly sang at churches and in local concerts. After her marriage she stopped singing in public instead passing her love of music on to her children and singing to them often. At 18 Oliver bought his wife a guitar, which she taught herself to play.

Career

Her big break came when she won a local talent competition and was noticed by Buck Owens who invited her on his television show. That performance led to a deal with Zero Records. In 1960 Lynn recorded "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl" the song was sent out to radio station owners and disc jockeys by Loretta and Oliver themselves since Zero Records didn't have the money to promote them. The family then moved to Nashville to promote it. It was a hit before they even got there peaking at fourteen on the charts.

Kitty Wells became the first major country female vocalist in the 1950's but by the time Loretta made her first record in 1960, only three other women, Patsy Cline, Skeeter Davis, and Jean Shepard had become top stars. By the end of 1962 it was clear Loretta was on her way to becoming the fourth to follow Wells' lead to the top.

She has released 70 albums and had 17 number 1 albums and 27 number 1 singles. Her first single was "Honky Tonk Girl" which reached number 14 on the Billboard singles chart. She made several albums with Conway Twitty. Her younger sister, Brenda, known as Crystal Gayle, is a well-known country singer in her own right. Lynn wrote Gayle's debut single, I've Cried (the Blue Right Out of My Eyes). Gayle and Lynn are cousins of country music singer Patty Loveless. Additionally, Lynn's sister, Peggy Sue, and her brother, Jay Lee Webb, were also nationally known country music artists in the 1970s.

With the benefit of membership in the Grand Ole Opry and inclusion in the weekly nationally syndicated television program The Wilburn Brothers Show (1960-1974), Loretta soon became the number one female recording artist in country music.

Poet/children's author Shel Silverstein wrote Lynn's hit songs One's on the Way and Hey Loretta.

Loretta Lynn has also written two autobiographies, Coal Miner's Daughter and Still Woman Enough. The first was also made into a film starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta, for which Spacek won an Oscar.

Lynn was close friends with country music legend Patsy Cline, and was devastated by her death.

There was some speculation that Barbara Jean (portrayed by Ronee Blakley), the centerpiece character in the 1975 Robert Altman classic Nashville, was based at least in part on Lynn.

Loretta Lynn enjoyed enormous success on country radio until the early 1980's when a more pop-flavored type of country music began to dominate the market, one of the leaders of which was her younger sister Crystal Gayle. Her last top 10 record as a soloist was "I Lie" in 1982 but she continued having charting records until the end of the decade. As a concert artist, she remained a top draw throughout her career but by the early 1990s had drastically cut down the number of personal appearances she accepted due to fragile health.

In the early 1980s Lynn experienced several personal losses. She lost a son in a freak accident, and in 2005, a second son pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for the DUI related death of his best friend. In addition Lynn's mother lost her battle with cancer.

In 1993 Lynn teamed up with fellow country legends Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette for the album Honky Tonk Angels. That same year, she lost her duet partner Conway Twitty, and in 1996 Loretta's husband Mooney lost his long battle with diabetes aged 69. A younger brother, Alan Webb, died of pancreatic cancer.

Comeback & Jack White

In 2004, she made a comeback with the highly successful album Van Lear Rose, produced by and featuring the guitar playing of her "friend forever" Jancee Dunn of Rolling Stone Magazine (2004). "Honky-tonk Woman" Rolling Stone (accessed June 29, 2006) Jack White of The White Stripes, reaching new audiences and new generations and even garnering airplay on rock radio. Jack White has long been an admirer of Lynn and claims she is his favorite singer. He has covered several of songs of hers including the controverstial "Rated X".

Honors and Awards

Near the end of that year it was announced that Loretta was nominated for five Grammy Awards including, Best Country Song ("Miss Being Mrs." and "Portland Oregon"), Best Country Album (Van Lear Rose), Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("Portland Oregon" with Jack White), and Best Female Country Vocal Performance ("Miss Being Mrs.") She went on , in 2005, to win for Best Country Album and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Lynn was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors in 2003 and was named "Artist of the Decade" for the 1970s by the Academy of Country Music.

She is one of only five solo female artists (with Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, and Shania Twain) to win the Country Music Association's highest honor, "Entertainer Of The Year"

She even owns her own ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN. The ranch is billed as "The 7th Largest Attraction in TN". The ranch includes a RV Park, Log Cabin Rentals, Swimming Pool, Gift Shops, 'Western Store', Grist Mill Museum, Food Service Facilities, Loretta's Fan and Doll Museum, Recording Studio, Concert Pavilion, tours of Lynn's Plantation Home, Simulated Coal Mine, and 18,000 square ft "Coal Miner's Daughter Museum".

Controversies

In her heyday, Lynn was no stranger to controversy. She had more banned songs than any other artist in the history of country music, including "Rated X" (about the double standards divorced women face), "Wings Upon Your Horns" (about the loss of teenage virginity), and most famously, "The Pill" (about a wife and mother becoming liberated via birth control).

Loretta Lynn is believed to be a Republican and campaigned for then-Presidential nominee George Herbert Walker Bush in 1988 and 1992, and remains close to him. She also supported his son in the 2000 election. In 1976 and 1980, however, she was one of Jimmy Carter's most ardent supporters and likewise enjoys a friendship with the former President. In her autobiography, Lynn writes her father was a Republican and her mother a Democrat. Her writings in her autobiography suggest she was not a supporter of Ronald Reagan and she has also publicly criticized Bill Clinton. Her most famous President anecdote may still be from the early 1970's when appearing at the White House she addressed Richard Nixon by his first name from the stage which created a stir in the press.

Discography

For a complete listing of the albums and singles see Loretta's Home page.

Early Life

Career

Comeback & Jack White

Honors and Awards

Controversies

Discography

Notes

Further reading

External links

See also

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Loretta Lynn

Early Life

Career

Comeback & Jack White

Honors and Awards

Controversies

Discography

Notes

Further reading

External links

See also