Loretta Lynn

At a young age of 15, she tied the nuptial knot with Oliver Vanetta Lynn after courting him for a month. The couple was blessed with six children. Oliver Vanetta Lynn was lovingly known as Doolittle, Doo or Mooney.

Their marriage, though a rocky affair with infidelity and fights, survived for almost fifty long years until the death of Mooney in 1996.

Towards the later years of her life, she has undergone a number of health complications. In 2013, she met with a tragedy when her eldest daughter, Betty Sue, died of complications of emphysema. She is the second child that Lynn has lost.

Loretta Lynn was born to Melvin ‘Ted’ Webb and Clara ‘Clary’ Marie. She was the second of the eight children born to the couple. Her father worked as a coal miner, storekeeper and farmer.

Raised in Butcher Hollow, in a coal mining community, she started singing at an early age. Like most of her siblings, she pursued a career in music.

She moved to Washington State along with her husband and family with an aim to look for better work opportunities. It was in 1953 that he brought her a Harmony guitar, which she learned to play.

Three years later, after much pursuance from her husband, she started seriously thinking of music as a career. She started improving her guitar playing skills and took up a singing position at the Delta Grange Hall, with Pen Brother’s band - The Westeners.

In 1959, she formed her own band, along with her brother jay Lee Webb, titled, Trailblazers. She then performed at a televised talent contest, which she eventually won.

The performance in the talent contest led her to gain a contract with Zero Records. The company arranged for the recording and release of her four songs, ‘I'm A Honky Tonk Girl’, ‘Whispering Sea’, ‘Heartache Meet Mister Blues’, and ‘New Rainbow’. For the promotion of the song, she travelled to various radio stations playing country music. The efforts led to her song becoming a minor hit.

She moved to Nashville in late 1960s where she began cutting demo records for the Wilburn Brothers' Publishing Company. It was while working with the Wilburns that her career witnessed yet another upscale drive as she secured a contract with Decca Records.

For her relentless contribution to music, she has been bestowed with numerous awards including four Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, eight Broadcast Music Incorporated awards, twelve Academy of Country Music, eight Country Music Association and twenty-six fan voted Music City News awards.

She has been inducted into several Hall of Fames including, Country Music Hall of Fame, Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. Furthermore, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

In 2003, she became the proud recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. In 2010, she was bestowed with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013, she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.