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22 Years Ago, the Queen of Country Joined Forces With a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer for the Most Successful Crossover Album of Her 60-Year Career
Every successful female country music artist owes it all to Loretta Lynn. Fueled by her hardscrabble upbringing in rural Kentucky, songs like “You Ain’t Woman Enough” and the autobiographical “Coal Miner’s Daughter” propelled her to an Entertainer of the Year trophy at the 72 CMA Awards. She was the first woman ever to hold that title. On this day (April 27) in 2004, the 72-year-old Lynn gave us yet another masterpiece with Van Lear Rose, produced by none other than ex-White Stripes frontman Jack White.
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Van Lear Rose was another homage to Lynn’s blue-collar childhood, named for the coal mines in Van Lear, Kentucky, where her father worked.
Jack White, just 28 years old at the time, featured on the Grammy-winning single “Portland, Oregon”. Additionally, he provided electric and acoustic guitar, organ, piano, percussion and backing vocals for Lynn’s 42nd studio album.
The “Fist City” singer’s first original work since 2000’s Still Country, Van Lear Rose topped out at No. 2 on the country albums chart and No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the most successful crossover album of Lynn’s 60-year career at that point, winning the Grammy for Best Country Album the following year.
“Lynn and White weren’t straining to make history, just a damn good Loretta Lynn album,” read one Rolling Stone review. “But it sure sounds classic anyway.”
[RELATED: 4 Nostalgic Loretta Lynn Songs That We Could Listen to Forever]
The Unlikely Friendship Between Loretta Lynn and Jack White
An impromptu roadside visit to Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch led Jack White and ex-wife Meg to dedicate their 2001 album, White Blood Cells, to the “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” singer.
To thank them, the country star invited the duo over for chicken and dumplings and homemade bread. That sparked a friendship between the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” from Kentucky and the city boy born and raised in South(west) Detroit. And that friendship led to an unlikely but gorgeous musical collaboration.
Loretta Lynn died on Oct. 4, 2022, at age 90. And Jack White penned a moving tribute to his touring partner and “mother figure” on Instagram.
“Loretta used to say to make it in the business, you had to either be great, different, or first, and she thought that she was just different and that’s how she made it,” he wrote. “But I think she was all three of those things and there’s plenty of evidence to back that up too.”
Featured image by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images
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