Loretta Lynn Biography, Photos and Posters

Loretta Lynn

Biography

Born: April 14, 1934
City and Country of Origin: Van Lear, Kentucky
Music Training:
Awards: CMA 1975 - Vocal Duo of the Year, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn; 1974 - Vocal Duo of the Year, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn; 1973 - Female Vocalist of the Year; 1972 - Entertainer of the Year; 1972 - Female Vocalist of the Year; 1972 - Vocal Duo of the Year, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn; 1967 - Female Vocalist of the Year; Grammy 2004 Best Country Collaboration With Vocals, "Portland Oregon;" 2004 Best Country Album, Van Lear Rose; 1971 Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group, Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, "After The Fire Is Gone;"
Top Recordings: "Coal Miner's Daughter," "Don't Come Home a Drinkin'," "Fist City," "High on a Mountain Top," "Rated X," "The Pill," "You Ain't Woman Enough to Take my Man," "Your Sqaw is on the Warpath"
Loretta Lynn Biography: American country singer Loretta Lynn was born Loretta Webb on April 14, 1934 in the Butcher Hollow section of Van Lear, a mining community in Johnson County, Kentucky. She became one of leading female vocalists during the 1960s and 70s and one of the most recognizable women in America. The daughter of Melvin "Ted" and Clara Marie (Ramey) Webb she was named after actress Loretta Young. Her mother was part Cherokee Indian. Loretta is proud of her Native American heritage and her home is built on the path where the Trail of Tears crossed.

Her father was a coal miner. She married Oliver Vanetta Lynn, commonly known as "Doolittle", "Doo", or "Mooney" (for moonshine), on January 10, 1948, just a few months before she turned 14. In order to break free of the coal mining industry the couple moved cross country to Custer, Washington. By th etime she turned 17 she had 4 children and was a grandmother at 29. She had always had a passion for singing have sung in church and local concerts, but had given it up to devote time to her children. When she turned 18 Doolittle bought her a guitar which she taught herself to play.

Lynn began singing in local clubs and then with a band The Trailblazers, which included her brother Jay Lee Webb. She appeared in a Tacoma, Washington televised talent contest hosted by Buck Owens and she was seen by Norm Burley, one of the founders of Zero Records. Zero Records president Don Grashey arranged a recording session in Hollywood, where four of Lynn's own compositions were recorded: "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl"; "Whispering Sea"; "Heartache Meet Mister Blues" and "New Rainbow". Her first release featured, "Whispering Sea" and "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl". With their initial support Lynn went on to become one of country music’s greats.

She signed on with Zero on February 1, 1960. She recorded her first released album in March of that year. Later that year they released "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl" which made it all the way to number 14 on the Billboard c & w charts. Lynn moved to Nashville, TN where she cut demo records for the Wilburn Brothers who helped her attain a recording contract with Decca Records.

Her relationship with the Wilburn Brothers and her appearances at the Grand Ole Opry helped to make Loretta the most well known female recording artist in country music. However the Wilburn Brothers owned the publishing rights to all of her material. As a result she stopped writing musi c in the 1970s.

At that time there only had been a handfull of major female recording stars, the first being Kitty Wells and the most recent Patsy Cline. Cline would act as a sought of mentor to Lynn as outlined in her 1976 autobiography entitled Coal Miner's Daughter, named after her 1970 number 1 song, which was turned into a movie in 1980 starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta and Tommy Lee Jones as Doo. Lynn would be devastated when in 1963 Patsy Cline was killed in a plane accident.

Lynn continued to have enormous success on coountry radio until the early 80s when a more pop-flavored type of country music began to dominate the market, one of the leaders of which was her younger sister Crystal Gayle. Lynn became the first woman in country music to have 50 top 10 hits.

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