In mid-1961, up-and-coming country singer Loretta Lynn moved to Nashville and met established country singer Patsy Cline.
Cline quickly became both a friend and a mentor to Lynn. In her 1976 memoir, Lynn explained:
She taught me a lot of things about show business, like how to go on to a stage and how to get off. She even bought me a lot of clothes. Many times when she bought something for herself, she would buy me the same thing. […] She even bought curtains and drapes for my house because I was too broke to buy them.
In March of 1963, at the height of her career, Patsy Cline died in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.
The following year, Loretta Lynn and her husband welcomed their last two children — twin girls. One was named Peggy Jean after Lynn’s sister Peggy Sue, the other was named Patsy Eileen after Patsy Cline.
I named my daughter after Patsy. That’s how much she meant to me. When I had my twins the year after Patsy died, I named them Peggy and Patsy. If only Patsy had been there for that. She’d have liked it.
Loretta Lynn’s four older children were named Betty Sue, Jack Benny, Ernest Ray, and Clara Marie.
P.S. Patsy Cline’s birth name was Virginia Patterson Hensley.
Sources:
- Loretta Lynn – Wikipedia
- Sarner, Lauren. “How Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter fared while auditioning on ‘American Idol’.” New York Post 26 Feb. 2024.
- Lynn, Loretta, and George Vecsey. Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1976.
- Lynn, Loretta. Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline. NY: Grand Central Publishing, 2020.
Image: Adapted from LorettaLynn1960s (public domain)
