#Hwoodtimes,country music,Deceased,Grand Ole Opry Member,Music,Press releases,Women |
October 5, 2022

LORETTA LYNN REMEMBERED BY BOBBY BARE, JERRY LEE LEWIS, RANDY TRAVIS, PASTY CLINE’S DAUGHTER JULIE FUDGE AND ICON ENTERTAINMENT’S BILL MILLER

“Loretta has been an old friend of mine for a long, long time. We’re both from Appalachia – same part of the country. Both started off the same way, dirt poor and worked our way into it. She was a good friend, I’d been calling to check on her lately. When I was 19 and trying to be a songwriter out on the West Coast, she was the first person to cut one of my songs… on the last show we played together at the Johnny Cash Festival in Arkansas in 2014 or ’15 we sang God Bless America Again together one last time – I love her and I will miss her dearly.”
– Bobby Bare, fellow Country Music Hall of Fame member
(see Bare and Loretta sing her Bare-penned hit “God Bless America Again”: Click Here)

“I’ve known Loretta Lynn for many, many years. Watched her hit the scene in Nashville in 1960 and have always been a fan of her non-apologetic attitude and country sound. I was hoping to see her and visit at the Country Music Hall of Fame inductions coming up… God Bless her family and while we will miss her here on Earth, there’s no doubt in my mind she’s joined that heavenly choir.”
– Jerry Lee Lewis, 2022 Member-Elect to the Country Music Hall of Fame
(license a photo of Loretta Lynn and Jerry Lee Lewis: Click Here)

“My roots in country music run deep because of may love an admiration for ‘Ms Loretta.’ She was there in the ’80s, when I arrived in Nashville, to encourage me and allow me to open for her on tour… and, she was there to open for me, in Aurora, IL, in 2013, which unknowingly was my last public concert before my stroke. The years in between are each gifts wrapped in respect, admiration, awe and love — and we shopped for lots of dresses through those years!

Whenever I heard ‘my Randy,’ I knew Loretta was near and her kind, sweet kisses left lipstick memories on my forehead and both cheeks.  I wish I could have bottled those kisses and saved them for a day like today, when I learned of her passing. An emptiness came over me as I reflected on the magnitude of Ms. Loretta’s presence—in the heart and soul of country music, and the entire world–and the void now created. If your path ever crossed with hers, you immediately felt her magic. Loretta and Doolittle ‘Doo’ represented a legacy marriage with six beautiful children as proof… and, a lot of us that Ms. Loretta took under her wing. I thank God that my career overlapped with The Queen’s—it’s an honor and a privilege.

After 90 years of teaching us how to live and love here on earth, we sing her home to heaven, with grateful hearts. Our thoughts and prayers follow the precious Lynn family down this road of loss and transition—thank you for sharing Ms Loretta with us. We will never have another Loretta Lynn…t his world isn’t good enough for two of her.”
– Randy Travis, fellow Country Music Hall of Fame member
(hear Randy and Loretta sing “Shopping For Dresses”: Click Here)
(license a photo of Randy and Loretta: Click Here)

“Our family is heartbroken to hear of the passing of Loretta Lynn…our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Lynn family. Loretta has always held a special place in our lives. We love the whole Lynn family and feel their loss…she has truly left a void that no one will fill.”
– Julie Fudge, Daughter of Patsy Cline

“There are very few in the history of country music who made the mark that Loretta Lynn did. She was relatable to anyone from the young boy selling newspapers on the street to the man sitting in the White House. She will be missed by millions. It’s comforting to know that her legacy will live on through her amazing music.”
– Bill Miller, CEO of Icon Entertainment Group, Proprietor of the Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash Museums

(view a clip of PBS’ Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl about Patsy Cline: Click Here)