Loretta Lynn Fast Facts

Here is a look at the life of Grammy Award-winning country singer Loretta Lynn.

Personal

Birth date: April 14, 1932 (some sources say 1935)

Birth place: Butcher Holler, Kentucky

Birth name: Loretta Webb

Father: Melvin Webb, coal miner

Mother: Clara (Ramey) Webb

Marriage: Oliver Lynn (1948-1996, his death)

Children: Patsy, Peggy, Cissie, Ernest Ray, Jack Benny and Betty Sue

Other Facts

Her first guitar was a gift from her husband.

Drove with her husband around the country visiting radio stations to promote her first record.

Sister is singer Crystal Gayle.

Nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and won three. Also received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Timeline

1960 – Signs a contract with Zero Records after being spotted on a televised talent contest.

1962 – Becomes a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

1967, 1972, 1973 – Receives the Country Music Association’s award for female vocalist of the year.

1971 – Wins a Grammy, with Conway Twitty, for Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group for the song “After The Fire Is Gone.”

1972 – Is the first woman to be named entertainer of the year by the Country Music Association.

1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 – Conway Twitty and Lynn win the Country Music Association’s vocal duo of the year award.

1976 – Her autobiography, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” is published.

1980 – “Coal Miner’s Daughter” is made into a film starring Sissy Spacek.

1988 – Is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

1996 – Her husband, Oliver, passes away.

2003 – Is a Kennedy Center honoree.

2004 – Wins a Grammy, with Jack White, for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals, for the song “Portland, Oregon.” Wins a second Grammy for Best Country Album for “Van Lear Rose.”

2010 – Receives a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

2013 – Is presented with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

March 4, 2016 – Lynn releases “Full Circle,” her first studio album in 12 years. The documentary “American Masters – Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl” also premieres on PBS.

May 4, 2017 – Lynn is hospitalized after suffering a stroke at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

January 2018 – Breaks hip in a fall at her home.

April 2020 – Her book, “Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline,” written with her daughter Patsy Lynn Russell, is published.

October 20, 2020 – A statue of Lynn is unveiled on the Ryman Auditorium Icon Walk in Nashville.