Reba McEntire
“See what they would do is, they’d play the rodeo. They would pull a trailer out and then the country music star for the night would come out and perform for the audience and then they would go over to the dance hall and put on a dance. That’s the first time I actually met her. I whipped off my belt for her to sign and man, I wish I still had that belt. I love Loretta Lynn.”
Kacey Musgraves
“I’ll never forget getting to meet her and open for her. It was just something I’ll never forget. I was so excited to meet Loretta. I mean, what can you say to her that no one else has said? You can’t, so I just shook her hand and held her hand and said, ‘You can’t understand how much you inspire me. Thank you.’ It was crazy. She was sitting there in her ballgown looking all like a country Barbie doll. It was amazing.”
Josh Turner
“I was at the CMT Music Awards back years ago right after ‘Long Black Train’ had just become a hit. I’m just kind of starstruck. I’m excited about being at this award show, and so at this one point, I was backstage and Loretta’s daughters come up to me and they said, ‘Hey Josh, we’re Loretta’s daughters. Good to meet you. We’ve got this crazy story to tell you. Our mama has been going around to every male artist that she sees telling them that she loves that song ‘Long Black Train.’ She even went up to Keith Urban at the point and was saying how much she loved his song ‘Long Black Train.’ Keith had to correct her saying, ‘I hate to say it, but that’s not my song. That’s Josh Turner’s song’ and they were basically saying ‘Would you be cool to meet her and let her talk to you?’ And so I said ‘Absolutely.’ So they go get her and brings her over to me and she starts raving about my song ‘Long Black Train’ and how much she loved it and all this. I’m just sitting there thinking like, I’m supposed to be the one telling you how much I love your songs. And she’s telling me how much she loves my songs. It kind of caught me off guard, but it was a funny moment. but it was one of those cool moments where it was like, ‘Wow, I’m getting the approval of one of the greatest country artists ever in Loretta Lynn.’ So that was one of the coolest moments to where I realized that I had made it.”
Catie Offerman
“I was so sad when I heard the news today that Loretta Lynn had passed away. She was truly one of the best. She was classic, timeless, all the things I love. She was such a trailblazer and a huge inspiration for me and so many other female artists. Even though she is no longer with us in the living, she will always be with us in her songs. I hope that we can all carry that on in her memory.”
