On This Day in 1973, Loretta Lynn Released a Hit Album to Celebrate a History-Making Accomplishment

On this day (February 26) in 1973, Loretta Lynn released Entertainer of the Year. Later that year, it reached the top of the country albums chart for a week. The LP’s title celebrated her recent history-making win at the Country Music Association Awards. The songs included on the album proved that she was more than deserving of the title.

Videos by American Songwriter

By October 1972, when the sixth annual CMA Awards took place, Lynn was already a star. She had notched several No. 1 singles, including “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “One’s on the Way,” and “Fist City.” Additionally, she was up for awards in five categories, more than any other artist that year. Among those was her second of five consecutive Entertainer of the Year nods. Later that evening, she won her first and only EoTY trophy, beating Charley Pride, Merle Haggard, Jerry Reed, and Freddie Hart. More importantly, she became the first woman to win the award.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1969, Loretta Lynn Released a No. 1 Single Directed at the Women Who Threw Themselves at Her Man]

When Lynn won the award, she was already working on the album that would become Entertainer of the Year. Three of the eleven songs–“Hanky Panky Woman,” “Rated X,” and “Legend in My Mind”–were recorded while working on previous releases. Sessions for the new album began in August 1972 and ended in December that year.

Loretta Lynn Accepts the Entertainer of the Year Award

Anyone who has even a cursory knowledge of country music history knows that women have always had to work harder to receive the same level of recognition or acclaim as men. At the same time, Loretta Lynn had been nominated for the Entertainer of the Year award in 1971, but didn’t win. As a result, she likely didn’t expect to win on that October evening in 1972 and wasn’t prepared to make an acceptance speech.

“I’d like to say that I’ve won a lot of awards, and this is one that I’ve been nominated for, but I never did get,” she began. “This, I think, is the only one I haven’t gotten,” she continued. “I’m really happy, but the only thing I’m kind of sad about is my husband is gone hunting. He couldn’t make it back in to share my happiness with me. Thank you,” Lynn concluded.

Featured Image by Arthur Murray/Mirrorpix via Getty Images