Remembering an icon. Country music stars and many other celebrities paid tribute the late Loretta Lynn after her death at age 90.
The “Coal Miner’s Daughter” singer’s family announced the news on Tuesday, October 4. “Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home at her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills, [Tennessee],” read a Twitter statement. “The family has asked for privacy during this time, as they grieve. An announcement regarding a memorial will be forthcoming in a public announcement.”
The songwriter was a pioneer in country music for women, scoring 24 No. 1 hit singles, and 11 No. Throughout her six decades of being in the genre, she has recorded 1 singles and 11 No. She was nominated 18 times for Grammys and won three. Former President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Barack Obama2013. Lynn celebrated her 60th year as a member the Grand Ole Opry shortly before her death.
“This coal miner’s daughter gave voice to a generation, singing what no one wanted to talk about and saying what no one wanted to think about,” Obama, 61, said at Lynn’s medal ceremony. “And now, over 50 years after she cut her first record … Loretta Lynn still reigns as the rule-breaking, record-setting queen of country music.”
After suffering a stroke in 2017, the “Don’t Come Come A-Drinkin’” artist ended her 57-year run of touring on the road. One year later, her hip was broken.
Lynn was a strong voice for country music’s future stars, despite the difficulties that she faced in her later career. “There wasn’t that many women singing when I started. Yes, it was all men. But we showed them,” she said on Southern Living’s “Biscuits & Jam” podcast in April 2021 while discussing her album Still, Women Are Enough.
The “Success” artist shed light on her songwriting process, explaining how she drew inspiration from her own life. “To write a song, I write about me a lot, you know? And [for] ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter,’ I sat down on the back porch of the old home place and just looked up the hill and started — ‘Well, I was born a coal miner’s daughter’ — and I wrote the song,” she recalled. “It’s like writing a poem and, you know, no big deal. When you’re hungry, you can find that you can do a lot of things that you didn’t know you could do.”
Lynn gushed about the many collaborators that she had brought in for her 50th studio recording, from Reba McEntire Carrie UnderwoodTo Margo Price. “Well, these are all my girlfriends, and I love them all. These girls are my best friends. And if they ever need me for anything, all they have to do is holler,” she said of her fellow country artists. “And because that’s all I had to do, you know? These girls are my best friends. Love them with all my heart.”
Scroll down to see the tributes Lynn is receiving from celebrities after her death.