How Patsy Cline Taught Loretta Lynn To Be Fearless: “Life Got Better for Me Because I Fought Back”

The old and the new guard—a paradigm that can go one of two ways. It can either be positive in the sense that the old guard becomes a mentor for the younger one, or it can be negative, as toxic competition can fester within the bellies of each party. We’ve seen this go both ways, and regarding the positive route, one pair that perfectly exemplifies the benefits of a mentor and mentee relationship is Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn.

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While most stories of this nature entail a mentor being older than their mentee, that is not the case for this one, as Cline and Lynn were the same age. However, what made Cline “older” than Lynn was the years of success and fame she had before Lynn entered the scene. Consequently, Cline was experienced, well-versed, and had the tools to help the up-and-coming Loretta Lynn navigate country music.

Cline’s commercial success came in 1957, whereas Lynn’s came in 1960. All of the facts surrounding Cline and Lynn’s climb to the top would suggest a potential competitive relationship. Though, as we’ve stated, that was not the case whatsoever. Rather, Cline became a major mentor, musically and emotionally, for her contemporary, Loretta Lynn.

The Invaluable Lesson Cline Taught Loretta Lynn

As one might imagine, the 50s and 60s country music scene was male-dominated. Hence, there was reportedly a common practice of taking advantage of female performers and shortchanging them for their artistic commitments. In a general sense, this seemingly taught Cline to take no prisoners and to stand up for herself when necessary, and it was this lesson that Cline would relay to Lynn at the beginning of her career.

Recalling how Cline taught her this invaluable lesson, Lynn once stated, “After I met Patsy, life got better for me because I fought back. Before that, I just took it. I had to.” “I was 3,000 miles away from my mom and dad and had four little kids. There was nothin’ I could do about it. But later on, I starting speakin’ my mind when things weren’t right,” divulged Lynn, per Biography.

Tragically, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn’s friendship was cut short in 1963 after Patsy Cline died in an airplane crash. They only knew each other for roughly two years. However, per this comment and others said by Lynn, Cline and Lynn had a relationship far deeper than their time together would suggest. Nearly 50 years after her death, Loretta Lynn stated in 2009, “She was my only girlfriend at the time. She took me under her wing, and when I lost her, it was something else. I still miss her to this day,” via The Denver Post.

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