One could assume Loretta Lynn had it all as she was the most successful country music performer, a loving wife, and the mother of six kids. Sadly, news of her death at the age of 90 was announced yesterday.
She received 18 Grammy nominations in her lifetime and took home three of them. She was also united in 48 years of marriage to the same guy, but she acknowledged in interviews in her memoir that it was “one of the hardest love tales.”
When Loretta was a youngster, she first encountered Doolittle Lynn, also known as talent manager Oliver Vanetta Lynn Jr. She married him in 1948 a month later, when she was only 16 and he was 22.
Not all women would tolerate this man’s continuous infidelity, but Loretta was completely dedicated to him.
Only three years ago, the legendary producer of country music, “Still Woman Enough,” published her 50th studio album after entertaining fans for more than 60 years. Fans were devastated when she had to postpone her tour in 2017 owing to health problems, but she recovered, a testament to her drive to achieve.
In spite of being married to a man who frequently cheated on her, Loretta seemed to put the same effort and focus into her marriage. She disclosed that “Doo” had repeatedly cheated on her and once abandoned her when she was in the middle of giving birth in her 2002 memoirs Still Woman Enough.
Doo was taken to the stunning brunette when they first met at an auction over pie, and the two married right away. However, even after they were wed, he sent her back to her parents’ house so he could court other women.
Their relationship was hampered by his drinking, which was claimed to have resulted in physical altercations.
Doo received two strikes for each time he struck me, according to Loretta. She dumped a skillet of creamed corn over her husband’s head during one argument. She hit him again, saying, “I heard teeth hitting the floor and thought, ‘Ooh, I’m dead. He laughed, but said, “I’m not going to put up with this.”
Loretta constantly cited her love for him and the fact that she had six kids as her reasons for being with him.
She once said, “I put up with it because I have six kids.”
She also gave her husband the credit for her profession because he supported her and even spent $17 at Sears to get Loretta her first guitar.
She recalled: “I married Doo when I wasn’t even a child, and he was my life from that day on” in one of her autobiographies. Although my youth and background were significant, there was another factor that kept me with Doo. He never let me forget that he thought I was unique and more special than anybody else in the world. It would be challenging to disprove that notion. Doo was my safety net and my security, the woman claimed.
“And keep in mind that I’m describing, not excusing… Doo was a decent person and a diligent worker. He was an alcoholic, though, and it had an impact on our marriage throughout.
However, Loretta claimed that due to her extreme shyness, she would never have performed in front of anyone without Doo.
The singer was raised in extreme poverty after being born as the eldest child of eight children in the coal-mining hills of Kentucky. Her mother had to use newspaper as wallpaper to keep the cold out of their small hut.
When she first met her spouse, she believed she had finally found happiness. Tragically, he would never be content with the attractive and accomplished woman he had married because he was constantly seeking more.
She endured repeated heartbreaks, violence, and rejection, but she never gave up. In fact, she expressed her emotions through her music, claiming that she never wrote a song without mentioning her husband in the lyrics. She even described the time she attacked a different woman for interfering with their marriage.
“If you can’t fight for your man, he’s not worth having,” she asserted.
In addition to dealing with her philandering husband, Loretta also had to deal with the agony of two miscarriages. By the time she was 25 years old, she had raised four children, and in 1963, just as she had decided to stop having children, she became pregnant with twin daughters.
Until Doolittle passed away in 1996 at the age of 69, Loretta remained in her marriage. Her kids believed she would never be able to overcome the loss since it was so difficult to bear.
In an interview three days following her husband’s passing, she claimed, “I left Hurricane Mills and came to Nashville.” I told a friend after being here for a time, ‘It seems like I’ve been here for a couple months already.’ You’ve been here a year, she said.
Fortunately, she was able to pick herself up and is now committed to supporting and taking care of her family, which includes her six children and three granddaughters, while also continuing to make music.
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