“The way she exercised brutal, truthful, fearless honesty every time she sat down to write a song is something that changed music forever”
Taylor Swift has paid tribute to Loretta Lynn, saying she is “paving the way” for “honest” songwriters.
Lynn, a beloved songwriter, passed away earlier this month (October 4) at the age of 90. She released 60 albums, the most recent of which was last year’s ‘Still Woman Enough,’ and topped the US country charts 16 times. She has also sold over 45 million records worldwide.
The many tributes to Lynn were led by Jack White and Dolly Parton, with Parton saying the pair were “like sisters all the years we’ve been in Nashville.”
Country Music Television aired a new tribute special, Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Celebration Of The Life & Music Of Loretta Lynn, last night (October 30), in which country stars paid tribute to the singer through words and performances.
Swift said in an unannounced tribute during the show, “I’m so grateful to Loretta for being an example, not only for songwriters everywhere but especially for female songwriters.”
“She was so ahead of her time. The way she exercised brutal, truthful, fearless honesty every time she sat down to write a song is something that changed music forever and paved the way for every songwriter who’s trying to be truthful and honest today.”
Following Lynn’s death, tributes poured in from around the world, including from Jack White, who produced Lynn’s 2004 album ‘Van Lear Rose,’ which went on to become her best-performing album in the US charts at the time, before she topped it with her highest-charting album ever, 2016’s ‘Full Circle.’
“I said when I was first asked about her what I thought, and I said years ago that I thought she was the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century.
I still believe that” White said in a video he posted to Instagram shortly after news of Lynn’s passing emerged.
“She was such an incredible presence and such a brilliant genius in ways that I think only people who got to work with her might know about,” White continued.
“What she did for feminism, women’s rights, in a time period and a genre of music that was the hardest to do it in is just outstanding, and will live on for a long time.”