Lynn, Loretta (1935–)

American country-music singer. Born Loretta Webb, April 14, 1935, in Butcher Hollow, KY; sister of Crystal Gayle (b. 1951, singer); m. Oliver Vanetta "Mooney" Lynn, 1948 (died 1996); children: 6, including (twins) Patsy and Peggy Lynn, who released their debut album The Lynns (1998).

Married at 13, had 4 children by 17; encouraged to sing by husband as a way to earn money, began performing in small clubs and at agricultural fairs; made a demo of her song "Honky-Tonk Girl" (1960), driving cross-country to promote it ("Honky-Tonk Girl" reached #14 on Billboard's national charts); followed that with "You Ain't Woman Enough to Take My Man" and "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin (With Lovin' on Your Mind)"; made 1st appearance at Grand Ol' Opry (1960); signed by Decca Records, for which she recorded "Fool Number One" and her 1st #1 hit "Success" (1962); became the most popular female country star in US with a string of hits that appealed to working-class women; had cross-over hits with "Blue Kentucky Girl," "Somebody, Somewhere" and her signature, "Coal Miner's Daughter," helping to make country music a mass-market phenomenon; became an unlikely heroine of the feminist movement with such songs as "The Pill" and "We've Come a Long Way, Baby"; recorded album "We're Still Honky-Tonking" (1998). Named Billboard's Top Female Vocalist (1964, 1973); became 1st woman to receive the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award (1972) and won Academy of Country Music's prestigious Entertainer of the Year award (1975); honored at Kennedy Center (2003).

See also autobiography (with George Vecsey) Coal Miner's Daughter (Regnery, 1980) and film Coal Miner's Daughter, starring Sissy Spacek (Universal, 1980); and Women in World History.