Country music star Loretta Lynn passed away on Tuesday at her Hurricane Mills, Tennessee home. She was 90.
Lynn’s family announced her passing in a statement shared on social media. “Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4, in her sleep at home at her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills,” the family wrote.
They also asked for privacy as they grieve the loss of Lynn. Information about a memorial is yet to come.
According to the Associated Press, Lynn launched her singing career in the early 1960s. While she often wrote about her love for her rural Kentucky upbringing, she also honestly discussed taboo topics such as divorce, cheating husbands, and birth control, among other things.
Her biggest hits, which include “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “The Pill,” “You’re Looking at Country,” “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’,” and “X-Rated,” were all released in the 60s and 70s.
By the mid-70s, her talent and lyrical candor led her to become the first woman to ever receive the entertainer of the year award from both the Country Music Association (1972) and the Academy of Country Music (1975). Throughout her career, she would also win three Grammys and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2010). She would further be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1988) and the Grammy Hall of Fame (1998). In 2013, President Barack Obama also awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 1969, Lynn released arguably her most successful song, the autobiographical hit, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” In 1970, she dropped an album under the same name. The success of the song and album would lead her to release a book in 1976 by the same title. The book was later adapted into a film in 1980.
The country singer was born Loretta Webb on April 14, 1932, to Clara Marie “Clary” and Melvin Theodore “Ted” Webb in a rural Kentucky town. She was the second of eight children.
Lynn was 15 years old when she married her husband, Oliver Lynn, in 1948. Oliver passed away in 1996. Together they had six kids. She also had 17 grandchildren and four step-grandchildren.
While some of Lynn’s music was considered controversial or taboo, she had a deep-rooted love for Gospel music.
According to Billboard, throughout her career, Lynn made three Gospel albums, including Hymns (1965) and Who Says God Is Dead! (1968).
In April of this year, she also took to Instagram to praise the Lord on Easter.
“When I think about Easter, I think about the incredible beauty of real love. Love that gives when it doesn’t have to. Love that gives even when it doesn’t receive. It’s what Christ did for us. I think of hope and redemption and forgiveness,” Lynn wrote in the caption of a video in which she talks about one of her favorite gospel songs.
“There aren’t words to share how thankful I am for all God has done for me. The Third Man has always been my very favorite gospel song,” she added.
In 2021, she recorded her 50th album, Still Woman Enough.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Stephen Lovekin/Stringer
Kayla Koslosky has been the Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com since 2018. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket newspaper. She has written on her blog since 2012 and has also contributed to IBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com.
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