Tribute in Celebration of Loretta Lynn's 90th Birthday

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Loretta Lynn, in celebration of her 90th birthday. The incredible voice of America's famed coal miner's daughter has resounded across the Appalachian Mountains and around the world, highlighting the resiliency and courage of the people of Eastern Kentucky, where she was born and raised.

Loretta Lynn's superstardom is a remarkable story, rising from her humble beginnings in Butcher Holler to the top of the country music charts. Her Eastern Kentucky roots shine through the lyrics of her most famous songs and paint a prominent picture of hope and perseverance that are iconic in our coal mining region. She has inspired generations of gifted singers from the mountains. Although Nashville gets much of the glory for birthing the superstars of country music, it is in the hills of Eastern Kentucky where many of them were born, raised, and played their first guitars. Loretta Lynn is just one of the many names lining our Country Music Highway in Eastern Kentucky. We have a rich heritage of talented musicians and vocalists, thanks to country music pioneers, like Loretta Lynn, who proved that hard work, mountain grit and sheer talent makes for an unstoppable combination.

At the age of 28, she signed with her first record label and stepped onto the Grand Ole Opry stage for the first of many times, becoming a member just two years later. In 1972, she was the first woman to be nominated and to win Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. She went on to win CMA's Female Vocalist of the Year award in 1967, 1972 and 1973. When we teamed up with Conway Twitty, the duo recorded five consecutive number one hits, winning the CMA's Vocal Duo of the Year award for four consecutive years, 1972 through 1975. Her best-selling autobiography, Coal Miner's Daughter, was turned into an Academy Award-winning film in 1980. As her success continued, Loretta Lynn was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988 at the age of 56. Her portfolio includes 60 studio albums, including five certified gold and one certified platinum record. Earning 18 Grammy nominations and 3 Grammy awards, Loretta Lynn stands now as the most awarded female country recording artist and the only female to be named the Academy of Country Music's Artist of the Decade. Adding to her monumental list of accolades, she was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her lifetime contributions to the arts.

The people of Kentucky are proud of our own ``Coal Miner's Daughter'' and the legacy of hope that Loretta Lynn built to move mountains for aspiring young artists from the Appalachian Mountains. On her 90th birthday, we celebrate and applaud the life of Loretta Lynn.

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