Loretta Lynn, queen of country music and ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter,’ dies at 90
ByBreaking News Team, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
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Loretta Lynn, queen of country music, dies at 90 Family members said Lynn "passed away peacefully ... in her sleep at her beloved ranch in Hurricane Hills.” (NCD)
ByBreaking News Team, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Country music legend Loretta Lynn, the coal miner’s daughter whose career spanned six decades and included hits like “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)” and “Fist City,” died Tuesday at her home in Tennessee, family members confirmed. She was 90.
In a statement released Tuesday, family members said Lynn “passed away peacefully this morning ... in her sleep at her beloved ranch in Hurricane Hills.” They asked for privacy and said information about a memorial would be shared at a later time.
A statement from the family of Loretta Lynn.
"Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home at her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills.” The family of Loretta Lynn.
A representative for Lynn told TMZ that she was surrounded by family at the time of her death and that she died of natural causes.
Born the second of eight children in her family in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, on April 14, 1935, Lynn drew inspiration from her childhood for her 1970 single, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” The song was her first to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned her a place among the most recognized country artists of all-time.
“I was singing when I was born, I think,” she told The Associated Press in 2016. “Daddy used to come out on the porch where I would be singing and rocking the babies to sleep. He’d say, ‘Loretta, shut that big mouth. People all over this holler can hear you.’ And I said, ‘Daddy, what difference does it make? They are all my cousins.’”
In 1967, after releasing a string of country hits including “Blue Kentucky Girl” and “Wine, Women and Song,” Lynn was named best female vocalist at the first Country Music Association Awards, The Tennessean reported. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988 and, over the course of her career, earned 18 Grammy Award nominations. She won three Grammys, including one for best country album for 2004′s “Van Lear Rose.”
Jack White, the rock musician and The White Stripes singer who produced “Van Lear Rose,” told The Tennessean that Lynn’s music served to “(burn) down the walls between men and women.”
“She is the single most important female singer-songwriter of the 20th century,” he told the newspaper.
Loretta Lynn: What you need to know Loretta Lynn died at the age of 90 on Oct. 4, 2022. (NCD)
In a 2003 interview with The Washington Post, Robert Oermann, co-author of “Finding Her Voice,” a study of women in country music, credited Lynn with changing the male dominated music industry.
“She was the groundbreaking female singer-songwriter in country music,” he said. “Her songs were delivered from a distinctly female point of view, and that had not been done before, not the way she did it. Writing about women as they really lived — that was a breakthrough.”
Lynn is survived by her younger sister, Crystal Gayle; her daughters, Patsy Lynn Russell, Peggy Lynn and Clara “Cissie” Marie Lynn; her son, Ernest; 17 grandchildren; four step-grandchildren and several great-grandchildren, according to The New York Times.
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Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 02: Loretta Lynn performs in concert during Rodeo Austin at the Travis County Expo Center on March 2, 2014 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller/FilmMagic) (Gary Miller/FilmMagic via Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years Circa 1980, American country singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn performs on stage, wearing a long dress. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images) (Getty Images/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years LOUISVILLE, KY - JULY 25: Loretta Lynn performs during Day 3 of the 2010 Hullabalou Music Festival at Churchill Downs on July 25, 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images) (Erika Goldring/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years American country music singer Loretta Lynn rests her head on her hand and reclines on a couch near some audio equipment, February 24, 1975. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images) (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years BUTCHER HOLLER, KY - CIRCA 1955: Country singer Loretta Lynn poses for a portrait with a man (perhaps her husband Mooney) in circa 1955 in Butcher Holler, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Loretta Lynn and Sissy Spacek pose in the press room at the 44th Annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 10, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images) (Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years (Original Caption) Buena Park, California: "Country" Family. Here's a kind of royal family of country music. Loretta Lynn (Center) poses with her mother, Clara Butcher, and sister, Crystal Gayle, at the 15th annual "Academy of Country Music Awards" ceremonies at Knott's Berry Farm May 1. Loretta and Crystal both won awards. (Bettmann/Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years ATHENS, GA - MAY 14: Loretta Lynn performs at the Classic Center on May 14, 2010 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Chris McKay/WireImage) (Chris McKay/WireImage via Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 31: Loretta Lynn performs at The Louisville Palace on March 31, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images) (Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years From left to right, American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie, country music singer Loretta Lynn and record producer Quincy Jones, at the American Music Awards, USA, 27th January 1985. (Photo by Ron Wolfson/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 17: Singer Loretta Lynn performs onstage at Stubbs on March 17, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images) (Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years Buena Park, CA - 1976: Loretta Lynn performing on the ABC tv special '1976 / 11th Academy of Country Music Awards', at the Palladium. (Photo by American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images) (Walt Disney Television Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years NASHVILLE, TN - 1997: American country music singer-songwriter Lorreta Lynn poses for a portrait with her piano circa 1997 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Ron Davis/Getty Images) (Ron Davis/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years Buena Park, CA - 1976: Loretta Lynn presenting on the ABC tv special '1976 / 11th Academy of Country Music Awards', at the Palladium. (Photo by American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images) (Walt Disney Television Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 22: HOF members Randy Travis and Loretta Lynn attend the Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum Hosts Medallion Ceremony To Celebrate 2017 Hall Of Fame Inductees Alan Jackson, Jerry Reed And Don Schlitz at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 22, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Music Hall Of Fame & Museum) (Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Music Hall Of Fame & Museum)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years NASHVILLE, TN - JUNE 04: Loretta Lynn and Family attend Loretta Lynn and Jack White Induction Into The Nashville Walk Of Fame on June 4, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images) (Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
Photos: Loretta Lynn through the years NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 20: A statue of the legendary country artist Loretta Lynn is seen outside the Ryman Auditorium on October 20, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images) (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)