LYNN ANDERSON
THE NASHVILLE STAR’S YEARS OF HEARTBREAKS AND HARD DRINKING RESEMBLED A COUNTRY SONG
Her daughter dishes on the country star’s toughest times.
Ibeg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden,” Lynn Anderson sang in her biggest pop hit. “Along with the sunshine, there’s gotta be a little rain sometimes.” That sentiment applied to the country icon’s life as well. As her daughter Lisa tells Closer, “It wasn’t all rainbows and roses.”
Raised in North Dakota by country songwriters Casey and Liz Anderson, Lynn was an equestrian champion who began singing in talent competitions at horse shows. At 19, she made her TV debut on The Lawrence Welk Show and achieved national fame. Soon afterward, she met and married songwriter Glenn Sutton, who produced many of her top hits, including “Rose Garden,” which crossed over to reach No. 3 on the pop charts in 1971.
Lisa was born the same year, but Lynn’s skyrocketing career created a rift with Sutton. “She wanted to jet-set, and Dad wanted to stay home and be a producer,” Lisa says. “Out on the road, she met someone handsome and fabulous.” That was Louisiana oilman Harold “Spook” Stream III, whom she wed in 1978. They had two kids together, but Lynn wasn’t cut out for domestic life. “It’s hard for a woman who’s been on top to back down, soften up and be a mom,” Lisa says.
They divorced in 1982, and then Lynn hooked up with songwriter Mentor Williams, and her partying got out of control. She was arrested numerous times for drunk driving as well as shoplifting and resisting arrest. “She wasn’t famous anymore,” Lisa explains. “That’s tough on the ego.” On July 30, 2015, Lynn died of a heart attack at 67. Says Lisa, “She’d done so much, her little body just gave out.” But her voice lives on. “She kept it cowgirl,” says Lisa. “She was always most comfortable in her boots.” — Bruce Fretts, with
reporting by Amanda Champagne-Meadows
“I just have to keep on the right path and not jaunt off to the left or the right.”
— Lynn, one month before her death in 2015