If you’re a fan of country music, or just music in general, you know or have heard some of Loretta Lynn’s songs. The Coal Miner’s Daughter is set to appear locally in April at the Country Tonite Theater in Pigeon Forge. More specifically on April 12 to what is likely a sold out show.
Loretta Lynn has been performing her hits for over 50 years. Her work has been as well-received, commercially successful, and is as culturally significant, as any female performer that came before her or has come onto the scene since. Her music has confronted many of the major social issues of her time, and her life story is a rags-to-riches tale familiar to pop, rock and country fans alike.
The Coal Miner’s Daughter, which is a reference to one of her hit singles, an album, a best-selling autobiography, as well as an Oscar-winning film, and to Lynn herself came from the Kentucky hills all the way to Nashville super-stardom. She’s simply an American icon. Other hits include “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)”, “Don’t Come Home A’ Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)”, and “Fist City”.
With over 160 songs and 60 albums under her belt, Lynn is one of the most talented artists in the business. She has had ten Number 1 albums and sixteen No. 1 singles on the country charts. Lynn has won dozens of awards from many different institutions, including four Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, twelve Academy of Country Music, eight Country Music Association and twenty-six fan voted Music City News awards. She was the first woman in country music to receive a certified gold album for 1967’s “Don’t Come Home A’ Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)”.
In 1972, Lynn was the first woman named “Entertainer of the Year” by the Country Music Association, and is one of six women to have received CMA’s highest award. She was named “Artist of the Decade” for the 1970s by the Academy of Country Music. Lynn was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. She was also the recipient of Kennedy Center Honors in 2003. Lynn was the first female country artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1977.