Loretta Lynn Biography

Singer. Born on April 14, 1935, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. Country music superstar Loretta Lynn is a shining example of how one person can overcome difficult circumstances to achieve great success. She grew up in a poor mining town and began singing as a child. Lynn married young—at the age of 13—and soon after had the first of her four children.
Her husband, Oliver "Mooney" Lynn, would be a factor in her success. She scored a recording contract in 1959 and released her first single, "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" the next year. The Lynns traveled to radio stations to encourage the disc jockeys to play her song. The tactic worked and Loretta Lynn made it onto the country charts for the first time.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Loretta Lynn had a string of hits. Songs like "Fist City" featured promoted a strong woman's point of view. Others tackled social issues of the day, such as birth control with "The Pill." For more than four decades, she has given voice to many women's concerns as well as entertaining audiences.

Over the years, Loretta Lynn's own story unfolded. First she wrote the hit song "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1970) about her childhood. Six years later, Lynn published an autobiography with the same title. The book became the basis for the 1980 film starring Sissy Spacek. In 2002, she shared more of her life story in Loretta Lynn: Still Woman Enough.

With more than 50 albums to her credit, Loretta Lynn continues to record and perform. Her most recent effort, 2004's Van Lear Rose, was produced by Jack White from the rock band The White Stripes. The album proved that she still has what it takes to make beautiful, commercially successful country music.

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