15 Things You Didn\'t Know About Loretta Lynn

Maybe your like

Subscribe
My Bookmarks
Member Exclusives
Country Life
Holiday & Entertaining
Food & Drinks
Kids & Pets
Design Ideas
Real Estate
Remodeling & Renovation
Gardening
Home Maintenance
Crafts & DIY Projects
Country Living Shop
Shopping Guides
Country Living Fair
Newsletter
Follow
Promotions

Other Editions

Skip to Contentsign inSubscribeSearch

sign inSubscribe

Shopping
Homes
Gardening and Outdoors
Antiques and Collectibles
Recipes
Entertainment News
Crafts and DIY
Travel
Pets
About Us

My Bookmarks
Newsletter
US

Privacy NoticeTerms Of Use

sign inSubscribe

Shopping
Homes
Gardening and Outdoors
Antiques and Collectibles
Recipes
Entertainment News
Crafts and DIY
Travel
Pets
About Us
More

Yule Log Recipe10 Make-Ahead Holiday AppetizersChristmas WishesHow to Wrap a Gift Like a Pro85 Easy Christmas Desserts loretta lynn facts

Getty/Michael Stillwell

Country Living editors select each product featured. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Why Trust Us?

Country music lost a legend today. Loretta Lynn—who in her 60-year-plus career had 51 Top 10 hits, sold 45 million albums worldwide, and garnered dozens of awards, including four GRAMMY awards and a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame—"passed peacefully in her sleep early this morning," according to a family statement. She was 90. Hailing from the coal-mining hills of Kentucky, Loretta was a true rags-to-riches story. She married her husband, the late Oliver "Doolittle" Lynn, at a young age, and together they peddled her music all around the country while also raising their six kids. Eventually (and with the help of friends like Patsy Cline), she became one of the boldest voices in the industry and remained so throughout her lifetime, releasing her last album, Still Woman Enough, in 2021. Here are a few interesting facts to know about her life.

She was named after Loretta Young.

photograph, retro style, black and white of star loretta young, monochrome photography

Getty Images

Her mom was a big fan of the American actress, who was known for her starring roles in The Farmer's Daughter (1947) and Come to the Stable (1949).

Her sisters are country musicians too.

Getty Images

Loretta was born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, the second of eight children. Her sisters, Peggy Sue and Crystal Gayle, are also professional country singers.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below3

Her family was so poor, her mother used Sears catalog pages as wallpaper.

Shack, House, Log cabin, Building, Cottage, Hut, Rural area, Tree, Home, Plantation,

Timothy Hudson/500PX Prime

"My mommy and daddy had eight kids, so there were 10 of us living in a small cabin in the mountains (pictured)," Loretta said. "The winters were cold, so my mommy glued newspapers and pages from old Sears Roebuck catalogs to the wall to help keep the cold out. We didn't have money for wallpaper, but my mommy made that old house stay warm and beautiful."

She knew her husband for a month before marrying him.

Monochrome, Black-and-white, Event, Iris, Smile, Photography, Family, Grandparent, Style,

Getty Images

Loretta Webb and Oliver "Doolittle" Lynn famously married when she was between 13 and 16, and he was 21. Loretta gave birth to the first of their six children a year later, and had three more kids by the time she was edging on 20. The were together until Doolittle's death in 1996.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below5

Her first guitar was a gift from her husband.

Acoustic guitar, Photograph, Guitar, Snapshot, String instrument accessory, Cavaquinho, Musician, Black-and-white, Musical instrument, Plucked string instruments,

Getty Images

Doo, as Loretta called him, bought her a $17 Gibson guitar from Sears & Roebuck when she was 18.

She wrote her first song on a fishing trip.

Motor vehicle, Photograph, Vehicle, Snapshot, Car, Classic, Vehicle door, Photography,

Getty Images

The Lynns were living in Washington state at the time. "One day we went fishing. I don't know why I just sat down and wrote a song. But I remember being shocked that those lyrics just came pourin' out of me," Loretta revealed in her 2012 memoir, Honky Tonk Girl. "I wrote my very first lyric when I wrote 'Whispering Sea.'"

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below7

Her father never saw her success.

Getty Images

Her first single, "Honky Tonk Girl," was released a year after her dad died.

She was good friends with Sissy Spacek.

Event, Fashion, Fun, Formal wear, Party,

Getty Images

Sissy, who won an Oscar for portraying Loretta in the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter, performed duets with Loretta and spoke highly of her friend in an American Masters documentary about the singer. Sissy also made the occasional appearance on Loretta's Instagram account.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below9

She became a grandmother at age 34.

Hair, Face, White, Black, Black-and-white, Facial expression, Hairstyle, Lip, Monochrome photography, Long hair,

Getty Images

Loretta's oldest daughter married and had her first child at 18. Loretta's youngest children, twin girls, were 2 years old at the time.

She wrote songs backwards.

Getty Images

At least according to Jack White, who produced her 2004 album Van Lear Rose. "She's got her own style of writing," Jack said in the American Masters documentary on Loretta. "She sort of writes with a double chorus, there isn't one chorus, per se, when you listen to her songs. There are two choruses, she starts with the second one and then comes back the first part of the chorus and then goes back and starts writing the verses and the story to get to it."

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below11

Her Tennessee ranch has its own zip code and post office.

White, Black, Photograph, Black-and-white, Standing, Monochrome, Monochrome photography, Snapshot, Photography, Leg,

Michael Mauney/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Loretta's ranch, Hurricane Mills, features six museums (including one dedicated to dolls), an RV campground, and a concert venue. The property has hosted the annual AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship since 1982.

She wasn't always forthright about her age.

Getty Images

In 2012, the Associated Press compared the country singer's birth certificate with her marriage license and found that she was actually older than she claimed. In her autobiography, she wrote that she was married at 13, but the records revealed she was almost 16.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below13

She was a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

Getty Images

President Obama awarded Loretta the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, acknowledging her legacy of "courageously breaking barriers in an industry long dominated by men."

She was a major influence on Reba McEntire.

Facial expression, Event, Beauty, Fun, Friendship, Fashion, Dress, Hairstyle, Long hair, Smile,

Getty Images

In 2016, Reba revealed that she warms up before going on stage by singing her favorite Loretta song, "If You're Not Gone Too Long." Upon news of the icon's death in 2022, Reba and many others in the music industry posted tributes in remembrance of Loretta on social media.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below15