Her Brave Battle
AFTER SUFFERING A STROKE, THE COUNTRY LEGEND FOUND INSPIRATION IN FAMILY
Surrounded by her family in a Nashville hospital where she was recuperating from a May 4 stroke, Loretta Lynn’s resilience was obvious and impressive. “Watching my grandmother with her sisters Crystal Gayle, Peggy Sue Wright and Betty Ruth [Webb] made my heart swell with love,” granddaughter Tayla Lynn said. “They talked about getting back to Butcher Holler to plant gardens and eat cornbread fritters.”
During the immediate aftermath of Loretta’s health setback her family was convinced she would bounce back just as she had from other serious health crises. Despite the loss of her husband of 48 years, Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, in 1996, and other heartbreaks, the legendary singer soldiered on and found comfort in music and her family. “What I take from Loretta is to tell your truth and be generous with your family,” singer Brandy Clark shares with Closer. But what has kept the Coal Miner’s Daughter going? “It’s just the love of music and her fans,” her niece Madonna Webb, 61, tells Closer.
NOT SLOWING DOWN
Loretta, who turned 85 on April 14, had kept up a rigorous touring schedule recently in advance of a new album, Wouldn’t It Be Great, due out in August. “She’s been working pretty hard,” her brother Herman Webb, 82, tells Closer. “Probably doing more than she should!” She even performed on her birthday with her sisters Crystal, 66, and Peggy Sue, 74, and joked she could “outwork any 26-year-old under the table.”
With her 50-plus-year career, no one doubted it. When faced with personal tragedies in the past — her son Jack drowned in 1984 and her daughter Betty Sue died in 2013 from emphysema — she relied on family to see her through. “Everybody came to- gether,” says Madonna. “I think that helped her more than anything.” Then she got back to work, recording with artists like Jack White and Miranda Lambert. Likewise, when Doo passed away in 1996, she mourned him as “my security, my safety net,” and continued performing. “You get used to sadness, growing up in the mountains, I guess,” Loretta once said.
Through it all, she remained famously generous. “I see the way she supports her family in their musical endeavors,” says Brandy. “It’s inspiring.” Madonna says her aunt is “just down to earth and a very loving person.” As an example, she adds, when her dad, Herman, had open-heart surgery, Loretta picked up the family’s hotel bill. “She does stuff like that for us.” The star’s kindness always extended to her fans, as well, to whom the star has always had a strong connection. “I feel like I’m one of them,” Loretta has said.
So, even though she’s one of the most award-winning female country music artists, she never lost her down-home warmth. As she tried to recover from her stroke, Loretta inspired her fans and family again when she began physical therapy. “She told me not to worry about her and said she was going to be OK,” Herman tells Closer. Adds Tayla of her beloved “Memaw,” she’s “such a strong and caring woman. We surrounded her. She is our matriarch.” — Lisa Chambers, with
reporting by Melissa Roberto
“Every time I go back to a place, it’s full. I sell out everywhere I go!”
— Loretta