Lynn, Loretta (1937– )

US country music singer. She did not begin singing in public until her mid-twenties but in 1960 she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and recorded her first hit, ‘I'm a Honky Tonk Girl’. She went on to release over 60 singles and 50 albums with many of her own songs, including ‘Coal Miner's Daughter’, the title song from the 1980 film based on her best-selling autobiography. She became widely popular for her music and admired as a working-class woman who had triumphed over adversity.

Lynn was born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. Married at the age of 13, she had her first child at 14, and was a grandmother by 28.