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Quick Facts
- NAME: Loretta Lynn
- OCCUPATION: Songwriter, Singer
- BIRTH DATE: April 14, 1934 (Age: 78)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Butcher Hollow, Kentucky
- ZODIAC SIGN: Aries
Best Known For
Loretta Lynn is a singer-songwriter known for "Coal Miner's Daughter," among many other country songs. A film about her by the same name was a critical hit.
Videos see all videos
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Loretta Lynn - Last Gift (1:27)
Loretta Lynn - Last Gift
Loretta Lynn shares a story of the last gift given to her by Patsy Cline.
Loretta Lynn. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 07:52, May 23, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/loretta-lynn-9389831
Loretta Lynn [Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/loretta-lynn-9389831, May 23
" Loretta Lynn." 2012. Biography.com 23 May 2012, 07:52 http://www.biography.com/people/loretta-lynn-9389831
' Loretta Lynn', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/loretta-lynn-9389831 [accessed May 23, 2012]
" Loretta Lynn," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/loretta-lynn-9389831 (accessed May 23, 2012).
Loretta Lynn [Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 May 23]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/loretta-lynn-9389831.
Loretta Lynn, http://www.biography.com/people/loretta-lynn-9389831 (last visited May 23, 2012).
Loretta Lynn, http://www.biography.com/people/loretta-lynn-9389831 (last visited May 23, 2012).
Synopsis
Early Life
Singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Born Loretta Webb on April 14, 1934 (some sources say 1935), in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. Lynn grew up in a small cabin in a poor Appalachian coal mining community. The second of eight children, Lynn began singing in church at a young age. Her younger sister Brenda Gayle Webb also later become a singer, performing as Crystal Gayle.
Lynn married Oliver "Mooney" Lynn just a few months before her 14th birthday in January 1948. The following year, she and her husband moved to Washington State, where he hoped to find better work opportunities. Lynn stayed home to look after their growing family. The couple had four children together by the time Lynn turned 18. Encouraged by her husband, Lynn decided to pursue her interest in music. She landed a contract with Zero Records in 1959, and her first single was "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl." To promote the song, the Lynns traveled to different country music radio stations, urging them to play it. Their efforts paid off—the song became a minor hit in 1960.
Moving to Nashville in late 1960, Lynn worked with Teddy and Doyle Wilburn, who owned a music publishing company and performed as the Wilburn Brothers. This soon led to a contract with Decca Records. She scored her first big hit with 1962's "Success."
Country Singer
During her early days in Nashville, she befriended singer Patsy Cline. Cline helped the naive young singer navigate the tricky world of country music. Lynn was heartbroken when Cline was killed in a 1963 plane crash. "When Patsy died, my God, not only did I lose my best girlfriend, but I lost a great person that was taking care of me. I thought, Now somebody will whip me for sure," Lynn later told Entertainment Weekly.
In 1964, Lynn scored a string of top 10 country hits, including "Wine, Women, and Song" and "Blue Kentucky Girl." Soon recording her own material, Lynn told the stories about all sorts of relationships. The singer had a talent for capturing the everyday struggles of wives and mothers in her songs, while injecting them with her own brand of humor. She, however, did not shy away from more controversial material, tackling the Vietnam War in her 1966 hit "Dear Uncle Sam."
Lynn reached the top of the country charts with "You Ain't Woman Enough (to Take My Man)" in 1967. That same year, Lynn won the award for Female Vocalist of Year from the Country Music Association. She continued to enjoy great success with songs featuring an assertive yet humorous female perspective. "Don't Come Home A 'Drinkin (with Lovin' on Your Mind)" involved a wife telling her husband to forget any amorous intentions, which she penned with country star Kitty Wells. Another classic Lynn tune was "Fist City," a lyrical tell-off from one woman to another over her man.
Lynn shared her own personal experiences growing up in "Coal Miner's Daughter," which became a No. 1 country hit in 1970. The song told the story of her childhood, growing
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Included In These Groups
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Nashville Sound
View groupThe Nashville Sound developed in the late 1950s, when recording studios and artists replaced some of the traditional elements of honky-tonk music with more contemporary pop music sounds. Producer and musician Chet Atkins was one of the genre's inventors, and is credited with bringing country music to a much wider audience. With his smooth voice, Charley Pride is one of country music's few African-American stars—and the only one to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. Women were also crucial to the popularity of the Nashville sound, with stars like Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynne bringing women's perpectives, as well as glamour, to the genre.
Not only did the Nashville Sound influence the sound of country music, but it also helped to establish Nashville, Tennessee, as the country music capital of the world. Thousands of aspiring artists now flock to the city each year, hoping they might be the next big, musical discovery.
Nashville Sound 6 people in this group
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Influential Female Musicians of the 1960s
View groupAmerican society experienced a revolution in the late 1960s and early 70s, especially for African-Americans and women. Janis Joplin was the finest white blues singer of her generation; female singer-songwriters like Carole King and Joni Mitchell shared their innermost thoughts and feelings; Aretha Franklin emerged as the Queen of Soul; and Bonnie Raitt established herself as both a strong vocalist and a brilliant guitarist. Through their music, the women of this era created the soundtrack of social progress.
Influential Female Musicians of the 1960s 17 people in this group
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Country Legends
View groupMeet the stars who've contributed so much to making country music what it is today.
Country Legends 18 people in this group
