Her Incredible Country Music Career
Once Lynn did get out in front of a crowd, it didn’t take long for her career to take off. After a few years of singing in local clubs, she released her first single, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” in 1960. That same year, Billboard listed Lynn as the fourth Most Promising Country Artist and she quickly became a fixture of the trendy Nashville country music scene.
Since that time, Lynn has released 50 studio albums, 36 compilation albums, and two live albums, as well as video albums and box sets. You Ain’t Woman Enough, released in 1967, was Lynn’s first number-one album on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Albums chart. The album’s single, “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” reached number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, making it her biggest hit up to that point.
In 1980, Loretta Lynn’s profile shot even higher after the release of the film, The Coal Miner’s Daughter. Based on Lynn’s autobiography and song of the same name, the biopic starred Sissy Spacek as Lynn and Tommy Lee Jones as Lynn’s husband, Doolittle “Mooney” Lynn. In addition to raising Lynn’s profile and bringing more attention to her music, the movie was a monster hit and received seven Academy Award nominations, including the Best Actress award won by Spacek.
While Lynn describes this time as the peak of her career, she also admits it wasn’t easy. “I think the highest point of my career was in the late ‘70s,” the singer said in a 2021 interview with AARP magazine. “I had number-one songs, a best-selling book, and a movie made about my life. But I think it was also the lowest point for me as well. Life gets away from you so fast when you move fast. When I look back on that time, I can’t help but feel sorry for myself because I didn’t really understand all that was happening. I didn’t get to enjoy it like I wished I would’ve.”