Loretta Lynn, the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” whose frank & gutsy, lyrics and unsoftened twang, down-home vocals made her a queen of country music for seven decades, has passed away.
A teenage bride and mother, a country star and a grandmother by her early 30s, she set the path for many to follow. Her songs spelled out the indignities endured by working class women.
She was the first woman to win the Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year award in 1972, inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.
She crafted a persona of a defiantly tough woman, a contrast to the stereotypical image of most female country singers.
She wrote fearlessly about sex and love, cheating husbands, divorce & birth control and sometimes got in trouble with radio programmers for material from which even rock performers once shied away.
"Coal Miner's Daughter," was one of the biggest songs of her career which proudly recounted her background.
A movie by the same name made her a household name.
Despite suffering a stroke and many personal tragedies, Loretta continued to work and churn out songs & books up until 2021.