"Loretta Lynn, the country singer whose plucky songs and inspiring life story made her one of the most beloved American musical performers of her generation, died on Tuesday..."

"... at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. She was 90. Her family, in a statement, said she died in her sleep.... Her story was carved out of Kentucky coal country, from hardscrabble beginnings in Butcher Hollow (which her songs made famous as Butcher Holler). She became a wife at 15, a mother at 16 and a grandmother in her early 30s, married to a womanizing sometime bootlegger who managed her to stardom. That story made her autobiography, 'Coal Miner’s Daughter,' a best seller and the grist for an Oscar-winning movie adaptation of the same name. Her voice was unmistakable, with its Kentucky drawl, its tensely coiled vibrato and its deep reserves of power. 'She’s louder than most, and she’s gonna sing higher than you think she will,' said John Carter Cash, who produced Ms. Lynn’s final recordings. 'With Loretta you just turn on the mic, stand back and hold on.'"

The NYT reports.