Loretta Lynn Biography

Fast Facts

• In 1988, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Started the charity event Ride for Mission 22 to help raise money to support military veterans
• President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 for her cultural contributions to the United States
• Is the sister of singers Peggy Sue and Crystal Gayle
• Her first guitar, which she received for her sixth wedding anniversary, cost $17
• When she was still only playing locally, Norm Burley saw her in a televised talent contest and formed Zero Records just so he could record her
• Won 17 blue ribbons for her canned vegetables at a local fair when she was 19
• Quote: "Me and my husband both worked․ I took care of a farmhouse, cleaned and cooked for 36 ranch hands before I started singing․ So singing was easy․ I thought 'Gee whiz, this is an easy job․'"
• Her number-one hits include "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)," "You Ain't Woman Enough," "Fist City" and "Coal Miner's Daughter․"
• Her lyrics, which focused on the concerns of working-class women, often pushed the boundaries of country music
• Wrote her first songs while leaning against a toilet in Washington State
• Is named after actress Loretta Young
• Wrote her song"You Ain't Woman Enough" in ten minutes in her dressing room, after a married woman at her concert told her about another woman trying to steal her husband away