The daughter of a coal miner from Kentucky named Loretta Lynn, whose candid songs about love and life as a woman in Appalachia lifted her out of poverty and made her a major figure in country music, has passed away at 90 years old.
Lynn’s family announced in a statement given to The Associated Press that she passed away on Tuesday at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.
Before beginning her career in the early 1960s, Lynn had four children, and her songs showcased her pride in her rural Kentucky upbringing.
In contrast to the stereotype of most female country singers, as a songwriter, she created a persona of a stubbornly strong woman. The Country Music Hall of Famer wrote with little fear about sex and love, adultery, divorce, and birth control, and occasionally got into controversy with radio programmers for themes from which even rock musicians once shied away.
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” were some of her biggest singles during the 1960s and 1970s. She was renowned for wearing floor-length, broad dresses with intricate embroidery or rhinestones, many of which were designed by Tim Cobb, her longtime personal assistant.
Her honesty and unique presence in country music was acknowledged. At the two biggest award ceremonies for the genre, the Country Music Association in 1972 and the Academy of Country Music three years later, she became the first woman to ever be chosen entertainer of the year.
In 2016, Lynn told the AP, “It was what I wanted to hear and what I knew other women wanted to hear, too.” “I wrote for us women; I didn’t write for the males. Additionally, the men adored it.
Her autobiographical book “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which was published in 1969, helped her gain her largest following to date.
We had love even though we were in need, she sang, “That’s the one thing Daddy made sure of/He shoveled coal to make a poor man’s dollar.”
Her 1976 book, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which had the same name, was adapted into a 1980 film. Sissy Spacek received an Academy Award for her depiction of Lynn, and the movie was also nominated for best picture.
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