Loretta Lynn, the Kentucky coal miner’s daughter whose award winning songs about life and love as a woman and made her a pillar of country music, has died. She was 90.
Lynn’s family said she died Tuesday at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.
Loretta had four children before launching her career in the early 1960s, and her songs reflected her pride in her rural Kentucky background.
As a songwriter, she crafted a persona of a strong, tough woman, a contrast to the stereotypical image of most female country singers. The talented Country Music Hall of Famer wrote fearlessly about being a woman, love, cheating husbands, divorce and all things in between. Some of her songs were controversial and radio programmers would shy away from airplay.
Her biggest hits came in the 1960s and ‘70s, including “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “The Pill,” “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind),” “Rated X” and “You’re Looking at Country.”
She was the first woman ever named entertainer of the year at the genre’s two major awards shows, first by the Country Music Association in 1972 and then by the Academy of Country Music three years later.
In 1969, she released her autobiographical “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which helped her reach her widest audience yet.
The Academy of Country Music chose her as the artist of the decade for the 1970s, and she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988.
To the “First Lady of Country,” we’ll miss you and RIH
