Loretta Lynn, the Coal Miner’s Daughter of Kentucky, whose early feminist songs have greatly influenced country music, died Tuesday at the age of 90.
In a press release released by AFP, her family states that the singer died on October 4 at her home in Tennessee.
“Our precious mother, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning in her sleep at home on her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills,” the family said.
Innovative speech of a strong woman
Born in 1932 in a rural one-room cabin in Kentucky, Loretta Webb is the oldest of eight children and the daughter of a miner, a childhood she recounts in her title song, Coal Miner’s Daughterin 1970.
“Well, I was born a miner’s daughter / In a cabin, on the heights of Butcher Holler,” she says in her 70s hit.
At just 15 years old, the singer married Oliver Vanetta, whose life she shared for 50 years, until his death in 1996. Captivated by her voice, her husband gave her a guitar in the early 1950s.
As a songwriter, Loretta Lynn forged a character as a tough and defiant woman, which contrasted with the stereotypical image of most country singers of the time.
Sexuality of cheating wives and husbands
A true pioneer, the artist very openly addresses women’s sexuality, unfaithful husbands, divorce or even birth control in her texts, which has sometimes caused her problems with radio programmers.
Among his greatest successes are the titles the pill, praise of the freedoms allowed by the contraceptive pill, X-rated, You’re looking at the country, don’t come home to drink (with love on your mind) Y You’re not woman enough (to take my man)song released in 1966 thanks to which Loretta Lynn rose to the top of the ranking of the best songs in the United States.
The same year, he had written with dear uncle sam one of the first titles to evoke the tragedy of the Vietnam War.
First female “artist of the year” in the country
Thanks to her outspokenness and unique stances in country music, Loretta Lynn is the first woman to be named Entertainer of the Year at both of the genre’s top award ceremonies, first by the Country Music Association in 1972, then by the Academy of Music. Country three years later. She was also nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and won three.
“My songs were what I wanted to hear and I knew other women wanted to hear too. I didn’t write for men, I wrote for us women. And men liked that too,” Loretta Lynn said. Associated Press in 2016.
Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988, Loretta Lynn has earned countless artistic honors, including the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, presented by Barack Obama in 2013.
In 1976, the country singer published her autobiography titled After the Song Coal Miner’s Daughter. This book was later adapted into a successful movie of the same name in 1980, which won the Best Actress Oscar for Sissy Spacek’s performance as Loretta Lynn.
“No political ends”
Despite the progressive themes of her lyrics, the singer insisted that her music “had no political purpose”.
He has aligned himself behind many Republican candidates, including Donald Trump in 2016, although he has also supported Democrats such as Jimmy Carter.
In Billboard magazine, he had confided that he would never retire from music.
“When I’m six feet under, they can say, ‘Loretta stopped singing.'”
Source: BFM TV
