Loretta Lynn Once Said She Never Listened To Country Music

Old Interview Clip Resurfaces Of Loretta Lynn Saying She Didn’t Listen To Country Music

Can you believe that the late country music legend Loretta Lynn once said she never listened to other country tunes?

In August 1997, Lynn sat down for an interview with the famous journalist and talk show host Charlie Rose. They discussed a wide range of topics, including Lynn’s favorite type of music.

At one point, Rose asked Lynn what genre she enjoys listening to other than country. That’s when Lynn chimed in with an unexpected response.

“I don’t ever listen to country music,” she said.

Rose was obviously surprised to hear this. Lynn went on to explain that her late husband, Oliver “Mooney” or “Doolittle” Lynn, always loved listening to country music. But whenever he’d turn the songs on the radio, she’d tell him to “turn that stuff off.”

Loretta Shared More Thoughts About The State Of Country Music In The Later Years Of Her Life

According to the Country Music Hall of Fame (of which Lynn is a member), she didn’t always feel that way. She grew up listening to country music, and named Kitty Wells as her favorite artist.

She also was heavily influenced by Patsy Cline. They became close friends, and Lynn recorded an entire album of Cline’s songs after her death in 1963. She even named one of her twin daughters “Patsy” in her memory.

In the later years of her life, Lynn expressed her disappointment over the state of country music at the time. She shared her dismay in a conversation on Martina McBride’s podcast Vocal Point in 2020.

“I think it’s dead,” she said of country music. “I think it’s a shame. I think it’s a shame to let a type of music die. I don’t care what any kind of music it is. Rock, country, whatever. I think it’s a shame to let it die, and I’m here to start feeding it.”

She added:

“I’m not happy at all. I think that they’re completely losing it. And I think that’s a sad situation because we should never let country music die. I think that every type of music should be saved, and country is one of the greatest. It’s been around, as far as I’m concerned, longer than any of it.”

So What Genre Did Loretta Enjoy Listening To?

Of course, Rose wanted to know what genre of music Lynn did enjoy, if not country. She said, “I like to listen to easy listening music.”

Lynn didn’t name any specific singers she listened to. But some famous easy listening artists include Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Bing Crosby.

When Rose asked Lynn why she didn’t enjoy listening to country music, she replied, “I don’t know, but I don’t listen to ‘You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man.‘”

Rose went on to ask Lynn if she had a favorite song from her own catalog. She quickly named “Coal Miner’s Daughter” as that song. “Since I wrote it about myself,” she said.

“Coal Miner’s Daughter” inspired the title of Lynn’s 1980 biopic of the same name, which starred Sissy Spacek. Tommy Lee Jones played Lynn’s husband in the film.

Watch the video below to hear Lynn talk more about why she didn’t listen to country music. Her full interview with Rose is nearly 20 minutes in length, if you’d like to hear more of their engaging conversation.