The renowned singer and composer Loretta Lynn has passed away. Her rise from a tiny coal mining hamlet in Kentucky to national success in country music was the stuff of Hollywood legend.
Lynn's family announced in a statement sent to The Associated Press that she died on Tuesday at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. She had a stroke in May 2017 that put an end to her career.
Based on her 1976 autobiography, Lynn's life story was poignantly shown in the Michael Apted-directed film Coal Miner's Daughter (1980).
For her depiction of the singer, who has been a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame since 1988, Sissy Spacek received the best actress Oscar and a Golden Globe.
Beyond the dramatic details of her life, Lynn was one of the first female singing stars in music, recording 16 No. 1 country hits and winning three Grammy Awards.
She was born Loretta Webb and coal miner Melvin Webb on April 14, 1932, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky.The second eldest of coal miner Melvin Webb’s eight children