A celebration of Loretta Lynn
George Strait and friends pay tribute.
Nashville’s biggest stars took the stage at the city’s Bridgestone Arena last week to celebrate Loretta Lynn — and she had the best seat in the house.
The country music legend sat on the side of the stage with family and friends, beaming as a parade of performers played her biggest hits. They were classic songs that she not only recorded but wrote.
It also was an early birthday party for Lynn, who turns 87 on April 14. Onstage, she was given countless bouquets – and Keith Urban even popped out of an oversized cake to sing her “Happy Birthday” – but most of all, she was showered with praise and heartfelt tributes from everyone who held a microphone.
“Tonight, I want you to enjoy every standing ovation, because it’s all for you,” said country singer Cam, who was host. “We’re all here to celebrate and thank this great lady for making a much better, much more beautiful and much more truthful place for the last 87 years, and we hope for many more to come.”
Out of 28 songs performed at Monday’s show, we’ve highlighted 10 standouts, starting with a performance by the guest of honor.
Loretta Lynn and all, ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’
Lynn didn’t step on stage or take a microphone until the final song of the three-hour show, when all of the guests joined to sing her signature, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
It was touch-and-go at first: Lynn appeared to not wish to sing directly into the microphone. But after a couple of lines, she took the microphone from her sister, Crystal Gayle, and her voice grew stronger with each verse.
She was in full voice by the time the band changed keys, belting, “Yeah, I’m proud to be a a coal miner’s daughter.” She smiled as the crowd – a packed house – cheered, and she stuck it through with the encouragement of Tanya Tucker, who sang alongside her.
Keith Urban, ‘Blue Kentucky Girl’
Urban acknowledged that Lynn’s 1965 song isn’t traditionally sung by a man, but clearly he loved it too much to let that stand in the way. As he got behind the piano, he said he used to play her songs in cover bands “on the other side of the world” in Australia.
Miranda Lambert, ‘Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)’
“I’m so honored to sing for the queen,” Lambert said, after getting a royal welcome herself when she was introduced. “I wanna say thank you for inspiring me, for all the advice, I guess you would (say) about when husbands (tick) you off a little bit.”
That teed up an inspired take on
Lynn’s 1967 hit, which she wrote from experience with her late husband, Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn.
Brandi Carlile, ‘She’s Got You’
There were few, if any, performers whom this audience of traditional country fans was less familiar with. By the time Carlile had reached the first chorus of “She’s Got You” (by Lynn’s friend Patsy Cline), she was one of the night’s favorites. The Americana artist – who had a breakout moment at the Grammys this year – put her powerful vocals and charisma on full display and earned a standing ovation from a room of strangers.
Darius Rucker, ‘The Pill’
From the “somebody’s got to do it” files, Rucker gamely took on Lynn’s most controversial tune. He put a rollicking, soul-shouting spin on the 1975 ode to birth control and earned one of the warmest welcomes from Lynn, who audibly shouted, “Hi, baby!” as he made his way over.
The Highwomen, ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’
The hotly anticipated female supergroup made their live debut at Monday’s
show and revealed a fourth member in the process. Carlile, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires also brought on hit country songwriter Natalie Hemby to sing “Honky Tonk Angels” in lush, fourpart harmony.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, ‘After The Fire Is Gone’
Lynn’s long partnership with Conway Twitty was celebrated with a string of duet performances, but none was more confident than Brooks’ and Yearwoods’ tender take on the 1971 chart-topper.
George Strait and Martina McBride, ‘Lead Me On’
Strait – who received another level of applause when his name was called on Monday – teamed up with McBride on one of Twitty and Lynn’s biggest hits.
Each had a solo turn, as well: McBride opened the show with Lynn’s self-written debut single, “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl,” and Strait stuck to crowd-pleasing with his own “Amarillo By Morning.”
Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack, ‘Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man’
This fast-moving duet isn’t one you can fudge your way through, and Jackson and Womack handled it as deftly as one of their own hits.
Speaking of which, Womack also stood out on her own with a gritty reimagining of “Everybody Wants To Go to Heaven” that could have been one of Jack White’s Lynn productions (more on him in a minute.)
Before Jackson performed his post-9/11 ballad “Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning” (a personal request from Lynn), he had a gift to give her: a yellow rose in a Jack Daniels bottle.
“I figured that’s a perfect example of country music,” he said with a grin. ❚ Martina McBride, “I’m a Honky-Tonk Girl”
❚ Keith Urban, “Blue Kentucky Girl”
❚ Kacey Musgraves, “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)”
❚ Miranda Lambert, “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)”
❚ Pistol Annies, “Fist City”
❚ Brandi Carlile, “She’s Got You”
❚ Tanya Tucker, “While I’m Living”
❚ Cam, “Rated X”
❚ Margo Price, “One’s On The Way”
❚ Darius Rucker, “The Pill”
❚ Brandy Clark, “You’re Lookin’ at Country”
❚ Randy Houser, “Wouldn’t It Be Great”
❚ The Highwomen, “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”
❚ Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, “After The Fire Is Gone”
❚ George Strait and Martina McBride, “Lead Me On”
❚ George Strait, “Amarillo By Morning”
❚ Little Big Town, “Making Believe”
❚ Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack, “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man”
❚ Alan Jackson, “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)”
❚ Alison Krauss, “It Is Well With My Soul”
❚ Lee Ann Womack, “Everybody Wants to Go To Heaven”
❚ John Carter Cash and Ana Cristina Cash, “Keep On The Sunny Side”
❚ Crystal Gayle and Peggy Sue, “Sparkling Look of Love”
❚ Crystal Gayle, “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”
❚ Holly Williams, “God Makes No Mistakes”
❚ Jack White, “Have Mercy”
❚ Jack White and Margo Price, “Portland, Oregon”
❚ Loretta Lynn and all, “Coal Miner’s Daughter”
Jack White and Margo Price, ‘Portland Oregon’
“Loretta Lynn wrote that song!” White marveled aloud after pounding his way through the bluesy rocker “Have Mercy.”
That song was included on “Van Lear Rose,” the acclaimed 2004 album White produced for Lynn.
He also played their standout duet “Portland, Oregon,” at Monday’s show, but since Lynn was sitting this one out, Margo Price filled in, with a spot-on performance that made it clear she’s among “Van Lear’s” many devotees.