Loretta Lynn (born
Loretta Webb on
April 14,
1934) is an
American country music singer-songwriter; she was one of the leading country vocalists and songwriters during the 1960s and 1970s and is revered as a country icon.
Lynn ruled the charts during the '60s and '70s, racking up over 70 hits as a solo artist and a duet partner.
[ Loretta Lynn at CMT.com ]
With an impoverished upbringing, a devoted yet troubled marriage, chronic illness and exhaustion due to her hectic pace, and several tragedies through the years, Lynn's own life often provided the grist for her popular tunes. Her best-selling 1976 autobiography,
Coal Miner's Daughter, was made into a hit Oscar-winning film starring
Sissy Spacek and
Tommy Lee Jones.