Born Loretta Webb on April 14, 1932 to a poor family in Kentucky, she is the eldest of eight siblings.

She immortalizes her childhood in her song "Coal Miner's Daughter".

"Well, I was born a miner's daughter / In a cabin, on the heights of Butcher Holler", she says in her hit from the 1970s.

At only 15, the singer married Oliver Vanetta, whose life she shared for 50 years, until his death in 1996.

They settle in a small logging town in Washington State, where Loretta Lynn gives birth to four children before she even blows out 20 candles.

Shortly after, the couple also welcomes twins.

Captivated by his wife's voice, Oliver Vanetta gave her a guitar in the early 1950s. A gift from fate.

#photo1

The self-taught singer draws inspiration for her lyrics from her own experiences as a young bride and the turmoil of her romantic relationship.

She formed her own group, called Loretta and the Trailblazers, and began performing in bars before recording her first hit, "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl", in 1960.

"Most songwriters were writing about falling in love, breaking up and being alone," she told the Wall Street Journal in 2016. "The female perspective I was describing was new."

Praise of "The Pill"

The singer then went on tour to promote her songs on the radio, and performed for the first time on the legendary stage of the Grand Ole Opry in 1960, an institution in Nashville where she would become one of the most acclaimed artists.

#photo2

Loretta Lynn continues the tubes.

With "Dear Uncle Sam" in 1966, she signed one of the first titles evoking the tragedy of the Vietnam War.

Also in 1966, she released "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)", which catapulted to the top of the charts and made her the first country singer to write a number one hit.

In 1969, she released one of her most controversial songs, "Wings Upon Your Horns", which spun a religious metaphor to describe a teenage girl losing her virginity.

#photo3

In "The Pill", in 1975, she praises the freedoms allowed by the contraceptive pill.

Unanimity

In 1988, Loretta Lynn entered the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Over the course of her life, she received almost every artistic honor, including the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, presented by Barack Obama in 2013.

#photo4

Despite the progressive themes of her lyrics, the singer insisted that her music had "no political purpose".

She has lined up behind many Republican candidates, including Donald Trump in 2016, though she has also thrown her support behind Democrats like Jimmy Carter.

But she was unanimous in the music industry, which she deeply influenced, collaborating with many artists, including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello.

In 2021, at almost 89 years old, she released the album "Still Woman Enough", which included re-recordings and new material.

In Billboard magazine, she had confided that she would never retire from music.

"When I'm six feet under, they can say, 'Loretta has stopped singing'."

© 2022 AFP