Country music icon Loretta Lynn keeps on truckin' - or, in this case, busin'.
On Wednesday night (Sept. 17) the Americana Music Association presented her with its coveted Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting at the Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, honoring her as a pioneer among female songwriters.
Lynn first performed at the Ryman, known as the "Mother Church of Country Music," almost exactly 54 years ago. At the time, the Ryman, built in 1892, was home to the Grand Ole Opry.
"The first time I ever sang here, I only remember patting my foot," the 82-year-old star told National Public Radio Wednesday night outside of the historic music venue. "I don't remember doing my song. Just patting my foot."
Her performance came decades before Americana music emerged as a radio format in the 1990s. "Americana" is a broad title that includes genres like bluegrass, blues, r&b and folk - and the Queen of Country Music says when she found out she was getting this award, she thought they were honoring the wrong person.
Still, she says she was proud to accept it, and she took to the Ryman stage once again, singing her classic "Coal Miner's Daughter."
Between 1966 and 1970, Lynn racked up 13 Top Ten hits, including four number one hits: "Don't Come Home a Drinkin'," "Fist City" (1968), "Woman of the World" and the autobiographical "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1970).
In 1971, she began a professional partnership with Conway Twitty. As a duo, Lynn and Twitty had five consecutive number one hits between 1971 and 1975: "After the Fire Is Gone" (1971), "Lead Me On" (1971), "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" (1973), "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone" (1974) and "Feelings" (1974).
So, what do you do mere minutes after winning a Lifetime Achievement Award?
Well, if you're country legend Loretta Lynn, you climb on your bus idling alongside the Ryman, and you dead-head 800 miles into the night to perform a show in Iowa the next day.
