Country music legend Loretta Lynn dead at 90
'Coal Miner's Daughter' singer sold tens of millions of albums
Country music star Loretta Lynn has died.
The coal miner's daughter turned country music icon was 90 years old.
"Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home in her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills," the family said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. They asked for privacy as they grieve and said a memorial will be announced later.
Throughout Lynn's career, which spanned 60 years, she won every music award known to musicians, and was inducted into the County Music Hall of Fame in 1988.
Loretta Lynn has died at the age of 90.
Loretta Lynn performs during the 2011 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 11, 2011. (Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage via Getty Images)
Lynn knew her songs were trailblazing, especially for country music, but said she was just writing the truth that so many rural women like her experienced.
"I could see that other women was goin’ through the same thing, ‘cause I worked the clubs. I wasn’t the only one that was livin’ that life and I’m not the only one that’s gonna be livin’ today what I’m writin'," she told the Associated Press in 1995.
The Country Music Hall of Famer wrote fearlessly about sex and love, cheating husbands, divorce and birth control and sometimes got in trouble with radio programmers for material from which even rock performers once shied away.
Her biggest hits came in the 1960s and '70s, including "Coal Miner’s Daughter," "You Ain’t Woman Enough," "The Pill," "Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)," "Rated X" and "You're Looking at Country." She was known for appearing in floor-length, wide gowns with elaborate embroidery or rhinestones, many created by her longtime personal assistant and designer Tim Cobb.
Loretta Lynn singing at the International Festival of Country Music, at Wembley Arena in London in April 1985. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images)
LORETTA LYNN DECLARES COUNTRY MUSIC IS DEAD: ‘I’M GETTING MAD ABOUT IT'
Lynn wrote an autobiography in 1969 which was turned into the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter" in 1980. Sissy Spacek's portrayal of Lynn won her an Academy Award, and the film was also nominated for best picture, helping the country music star reach her widest audience yet.
In 1972, she was the first woman ever given the entertainer of the year award by the Country Music Association. Just three years later, she was the first woman to be given the same award by the Academy of Country Music.
At one point in her career, she teamed up with country music star Conway Twitty and the two wrote hit songs including, "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man."
Loretta Lynn performs with Conway Twitty. (Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns via Getty Iamges)
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Loretta Lynn poses for a portrait circa 1977. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Lynn grew up in Kentucky and used her experience in Appalachia to write her music. Her childhood involved singing, and she came from a musical family. Her father played the banjo and her mother played the guitar.
Lynn married Oliver Lynn in 1948 at the age of 15, according to court records.
She and her husband were married nearly 50 years before he died in 1996. They had six children: Betty, Jack, Ernest and Clara, and then twins Patsy and Peggy. She had 17 grandchildren and four step-grandchildren.
Loretta Lynn and her husband Oliver Lynn at the Country and Western Music Awards on Feb. 27, 1975. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trending
Who's making headlines in television, music, movies and more from Hollywood to the Heartland.