Biography

Loretta Lynn was born in 1932 in Paintsville, Kentucky, into a large family of eight children. Her father was a coal miner, and unlike many other country music stars, Lynn’s inspiration to pursue a career in music did not develop while she was a child; she grew up in a working class household with little opportunity to learn to play music. However, she married at the age of fifteen, and for her twenty-first birthday, he husband bought her a guitar and within three years it was clear that Loretta had a natural talent for both the instrument and vocals.

Loretta Lynn began her career singing at first in local churches, and then with the band, The Westerners and later with the Trailblazers. A talent contest brought her to the attention of record company executives, who arranged for Lynn to record a series of singles. Shortly thereafter, Loretta signed her first contract and released “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl,” which rose to the top of the country charts very quickly. By the end of that first year, Loretta Lynn had already established a strong fan base and was recognized by Billboard Magazine as among the most promising female country artists of the future.

Since that time, Loretta Lynn has been nearly synonymous with country music and has risen to legendary status in the genre. Her debut album, Loretta Lynn Sings (1963) rose to the number two spot on the country charts, and her subsequent albums fared just as well, with most of them finding a home in the top 10 on the charts, including: Songs from My Heart (1965), I Like ‘em Country (1966), You Ain’t Woman Enough (1966), Singin’ with Feelin’ (1967), Women of the World/To Make a Man (1969), Wings Upon Your Home (1970), Back to the Country (1975), and Somebody, Somewhere (1976), to name a few. Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, Loretta Lynn also placed dozens of singles at the top of the charts as well, including: “Success,” “Dear Uncle Sam,” “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man),” “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind),” “If You’re Not Gone Too Long,” “Fist City,” “I Know How,” “You Wanna Give Me A Lift,” “I Wanna Be Free,” “One’s on the Way,” “Rated X,” “Love is the Foundation,” “Trouble in Paradise,” “The Pill,” “Out of My Head and Back in Bed,” “I Can’t Feel you Anymore,” and of course her iconic song, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which served as the inspiration for the book and later movie of the same title, which shared the remarkable story of Loretta Lynn’s transformation from working class rural Kentucky girl to iconic country singer and superstar.

Loretta Lynn’s contributions to country music have been innumerous. She’s received dozens of awards from nearly every music industry association, including: the Grammys (four), the American Music Awards (seven), the Academy of Country Music Awards (twelve), and the Country Music Association Awards (eight.) She’s been recognized as Entertainer of the Year, Artist of the Decade, and among the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. In the new millennium, Loretta Lynn received a Kennedy Center Honors award, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Grammys. In 2010, the album Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn was released. The album features performances by such notable artists as Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, Steve Earl, Alan Jackson, and Gretchen Wilson. The album’s single, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” sung by Lynn, Lambert, and Crow, was nominated for Vocal Event of the Year at the 2011 Academy of Country Music Awards. When the single rose to the charts, it established Loretta Lynn as the first female country singer to place songs on the charts for six consecutive decades.