Just chillin' with her Grammys.
Loretta Lynn is undoubtedly one of country's immortal, golden stars, influencing the likes of Sheryl Crow and boasting a repertoire of four GRAMMY awards and 12 Academy of Country Music Awards. Raised by a coal miner in the poor town of Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, she is the perfect Hollywood story of a honky-tonk girl gone from rags to riches. She will be playing at the Majestic Theater on Friday, August 23 and, if you click on "next page," you'll see five of many reasons why you should go see her.
Reason #5: She still sings beautifully.
In many instances, seeing singers that are above the age of 50 is really sad. You expect them to sound as they did in their glory days and, instead, you realize that age hasn't been kind to them. Luckily, this isn't Lynn's case. She still has the chops to croon out those notes to "They Don't Make 'Em Like My Daddy Anymore."
Reason #4: Coal Miner's Daughter is easily one of the best music autobiographies ever written.
"I'd rather write than sing, which is a surprise to most people. But it seems to me like I get a lot out of my system when I write. People often say, 'Where do you come up with all of these songs?' Well, I don't come up with them! I've lived them! I tell it like it is. In the hills, we don't write songs, we just tell the truth, that's what I always say. And I still believe that. It's just life. I don't think I could sing a song if it didn't fit and if it wasn't true. Even all my cheating songs. It all happened. And let me tell you, my old man got the devil for it!"
Reason #3: Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), the movie.
Sissy Spacek's performance as Loretta Lynn earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Reason #2: "Coal Miner's Daughter," the song.
Released in 1970, "Coal Miner's Daughter" is still her signature song. Even though it peaked at number 82 in Billboard's Hot 100 chart, it quickly rose to number 1 in the Country charts and it still sounds great.
Reason # 1: She's an example of the "good side" of country.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Tom Petty said that the old, magical element of country has been lost, while modern country sounds like "bad rock with a fiddle." Hard to disagree with him, considering how artists like Rascal Flatts and Brad Paisley rely on the banal crutch of making really accessible love-gone-sour anthems. Seeing Loretta Lynn on Friday would be like a trip back to when country was actually good and reigned supreme.
