Country music icon Loretta Lynn has died at the age of 90, via theWashington Post.
Lynn and her husband relentlessly promoted the single.
Their payoff would be a song that hit No.
14 on the country music charts.
Lynn’s distinctive voice attracted the attention of the Wilburn Brothers, who asked her to tour with them.
She and her family would move to Nashville shortly thereafter (viaPBS).
“And I walked in one station and there was my record down in the garbage can.
The deejay said, ‘I don’t know.
I’ve never heard you sing.’
And ‘I don’t know if this record’s any good or not.’
(via PBS).
Loretta Lynn broke barriers
Loretta Lynn became one of country music’s biggest stars rather quickly thereafter.
However, Lynn’s personal life was being turned upside down.
Her husband Doo began drinking and physically and emotionally abused her.
Lynn and her husband also fought frequently.
The themes ofcountry musicwere male-dominated prior to Lynn’s rise to the top.
They spoke of the American West, hard work, and love for one’s country.
Female performers were expected to conform to this dynamic, often as a man’s sidekick.
Lynn broke down those barriers with her heartbreaking songs that spoke of real emotions.
It was so risque at the time that her record company waited two years to release it.
“It’s just a wife arguin' with her husband,” she said.
Now you straighten out or I’ll start, now that I have the pill.'”
Her 1970 hit song “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was a huge hit.
In addition to that, she scored 24 No.
1 singles (viaWide Open Country).
She is survived by her children Patsy, Peggy, Cissy, and Ernest Ray.
