After hearing of the death of country music legend Loretta Lynn today (Tuesday) at the age of 90, Jack White took to to share his feelings on the artist whose acclaimed Van Lear Rose album he produced and played on in 2004.
In a video, White says he stands by an earlier assessment he made of Lynn as “the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century.” He then recalls Lynn telling him that to make it in music you had to be either “great, different or first,” and that she thought she’d made it by being different. White believes she was “all three of those things.” He also praises “her contribution to women’s rights,” and calls her a “mother figure” and “a good friend.” Here they are performing together in an epic appearance on The David Letterman Show
🎥 Loretta Lynn & Jack White's stunning performance of 'Portland, Oregon' on The David Letterman Show pic.twitter.com/lMzthDgEiE
— Far Out Magazine (@FarOutMag) October 4, 2022
Van Lear Rose was the 42nd of Lynn’s studio albums, in a recording career that began in 1960. She wouldn’t make another one for 12 years, but eventually released four more, all co-produced by her daughter Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash, the son of the late Johnny Cash.