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CMA Awards 1972: Loretta Lynn Delivers A Hilariously Iconic Speech After Becoming The First Women To Win Entertainer Of The Year
A true trailblazer in every sense.
The late, great Loretta Lynn was a Country Music Hall of Famer, Grammy winner, and winner of just about every music award imaginable. She released dozens of hit songs, and some of the most important albums in country music history, however, perhaps her largest impact on the country music world was from her willingness to push the boundaries of songwriting and storytelling in country music.
Loretta made an entire career out of saying what no one else would in terms of what it’s really like to be a woman and the real life issues that come with it. She had plenty of songs banned from mainstream country radio back in the day because of that, including some of her most recognizable songs, like “The Pill” and “Rated X”.
She famously said:
“To make it in this business, you either have to be first, great or different, and I was the first to ever go into Nashville, singin’ it like the women lived it.”
And she was one of the very few who did that, and could back it up…
Long before Loretta was even starting to think about pursuing a music career, she was a wife and a mom, working her fingers to the bone every day cleaning her house, doing laundry and cooking, but not in the way we think of it today:
“Before I was singing, I cleaned house; I took in laundry; I picked berries. I worked seven days a week. I was a housewife and mother for 15 years before I was an entertainer. And it wasn’t like being a housewife today.
It was doing hand laundry on a board and cooking on an old coal stove. I grew a garden and canned what I grew. That’s what’s real. I know how to survive.”
A quality that would serve her well over the years, even after she left that life behind in her home in Kentucky.
These experiences shaped her into a salt of the earth, real women who not only knew that people want to hear real, honest songs that speak to their lives and experiences, but from someone who had also lived them herself. Clearly, it was something Loretta understood better than just about anybody, and thankfully, she was never afraid to express that regardless of what any manager, radio station, or label had to say to the contrary.
And in 1972, Loretta became the first woman to be nominated and win Entertainer of the Year at the CMA awards, and on this day in 1972 as well, Loretta became the first woman to win the CMA Entertainer of the Year award.
Since then, only seven other women have gone onto win that award, including Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, the Dixie Chicks, Taylor Swift, and Lainey Wilson:
“On this day in 1972, Loretta became the first woman to win the CMA Entertainer of the Year award! During her career, she won a total of 8 CMA Awards, but it was this award that cemented her role as a trailblazer for women in country music.
Sevenother women have won the CMA Entertainer of the Year award since Loretta did. She would love seeing so many talented women in country music today!”
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A post shared by Loretta Lynn (@lorettalynnofficial)
That is an incredible accomplishment, something no one deserved more than Loretta, but even during her acceptance speech, she was the down home, charming women who never forgot her humble beginnings and where she came from.
Minnie Pearl announced the winner, and clearly was very excited for her friend during such a historical moment, but Loretta kept it light and funny when she told the crowd that she was really happy, but a little bit sad because her husband, Doolittle, couldn’t be there because he was… hunting:
“I’d like to say that I’ve won a lot of awards and this is one that I have been nominated for, but I never did get. This, I think, is the only one that I haven’t gotten.
I’m real happy, but the only thing I’m kind of sad about is my husband is going hunting. He couldn’t make it back in to share my happiness with me. Thank you.”
Just classic.
Though they had a tumultuous marriage at times, I’m sure many of you know what a huge role Doo played in Loretta ever having any sort of country music career, as it was him who first encouraged her to even think about making it a professional endeavor. It was Doo who bought Loretta her first guitar, and he traveled with her to promote her first single “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl,” visiting radio stations to secure airplay.
Without him, Loretta has said many time she would have never pursued music, and might have never even performed in front of anyone.
He was instrumental to her career and success (no pun intended, but I like it), so I’m sure she was disappointed he couldn’t be there that night, though Loretta obviously had a sense of humor about it and kept it short and sweet… hopefully Doo didn’t miss this big moment for his wife just to come back empty-handed.
Though Loretta never won the award again, she was nominated in the category every year from 1971 to 1975, and remains one of, if not the most, iconic figures to ever do it in country music.
And if you’ve never seen the speech before, it’s an all-time great one:
The post CMA Awards 1972: Loretta Lynn Delivers A Hilariously Iconic Speech After Becoming The First Women To Win Entertainer Of The Year first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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