Carly Pearce earned a standing ovation with her emotional tribute to the late Loretta Lynn at the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday evening (Oct. 4).
The reigning ACM Female Vocalist of The Year took to the sacred circle with a heartfelt performance of her song “Dear Miss Loretta,” a tune that pays homage to Loretta Lynn that appears on Pearce’s latest album, 29: Written In Stone.
“We absolutely lost one of the greatest that there ever was and will be and as I stand here tonight I feel overwhelmed with just the legacy and the beauty that she is and she was,” Pearce told the Opry crowd. “And she heard me, which is quite crazy to me. I played this song on the Opry stage I debuted it, just like I’m going to do it tonight. Loretta happened to be watching the live stream of the Grand Ole Opry and heard me sing this song and I’ve never played this for anybody publicly, but I felt like tonight standing in the Opry stage and in the circle that the honky-tonk Angel, which she is now officially a honky-tonk angel, that maybe she wants me to do this. So, this is a message that I got from Loretta Lynn last year.”
Before performing “Dear Miss Loretta,” Pearce introduced her performance by playing the audience a voicemail that Lynn left after she heard her song “Dear Miss Loretta” for the first time in 2021.
“Hi Carly, this is Loretta honey, I’m laying here in bed just taking it easy and I’m fixing to get up to wash my face and maybe comb my hair,” Lynn said in the voice message laughing. “I don’t know, I ain’t got no place to go, have I?”
As the voice message continued to play, Lynn can be heard graciously thanking Pearce for the song she wrote in her honor, saying, “Anyway I love your song, thank you sweetheart. I love you honey. Hey, come and see me sometime!”
@musicmayhemmagazine Tonight at the Opry, @carlypearce played a personal voicemail she got from #LorettaLynn in 2021 after she heard her song DearMissLoretta. ❤️ 🎥 video courtesy of @Grand Ole Opry
The Kentucky native then told the crowd, “I’ve listened to that message a lot today and if that does not capture the purest form and the essence of her beautiful soul, I don’t know what else does. So, I love you too Loretta and I’m going to sing your song tonight.”
Donning a green dress and strumming a white acoustic guitar, Pearce then belted out the lyrics to the beautiful tune as a photo of Lynn was displayed on the screen behind her on the Opry stage.
@musicmayhemmagazine @carlypearce honored the late #LorettaLynn with a special tribute performance of #DearMissLoretta at the Opry and earned a standing ovation. ❤️❤️❤️ 🎥 video courtesy of @opryofficial
A very touching rendition of “Dear Miss Loretta” by @carlypearce tonight at the @opry, honoring THE one and only @LorettaLynn herself! A standing ovation as well! pic.twitter.com/oxZPw9ZypZ
— 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 🌃 Eras Tour Nashville (@hoodenfignewton) October 5, 2022
Jeannie Seely and Chris Young also paid tribute to Lynn during the Opry concert on Tuesday evening.
Pearce debuted her song, “Dear Miss Loretta” at the Grand Ole Opry back in March 2021.
She hasn’t been shy about her love for the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” singer and she credits her grandmother for introducing her to Lynn’s music. In addition, Pearce previously shared that listening to Lynn’s music has given her the “courage to write [her truth].”
“Dear Miss Loretta” was co-written by Pearce alongside Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark.
“I wrote this song recently with Shane McAnally & Brandy Clark as a letter to her, saying all the things I wish I could say to her & sang it for the first time last night on my favorite stage,” Pearce explained of the track. “Thank you, Loretta, for making me feel like it’s okay to write my truth and be unashamed… Just like you.”
“I wrote [“Dear Miss Loretta”] over the summer, and I thought it was kind of just for myself and then just with the response to 29, it just felt like it was the right time,” Pearce previously told Opry host Natalie Stovall.
Earlier in the day, after Pearce heard the news of Lynn’s passing, the “What He Didn’t Do” singer immediately took to social media to honor the late Country Music Hall of Famer with a special message.
“She showed us all how to unapologetically tell the truth. One of the greatest there ever will be,” Pearce captioned a classic black-and-white photo of Lynn on Instagram. “I’ll be singing ‘Dear Miss Loretta’ with a little extra love tonight at the @opry. Now she really is a Honky Tonk Angel.”
Country music icon and Grand Ole Opry member, Loretta Lynn died at the age of 90 years old at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee in the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 4. Hours after Lynn’s passing, her family shared the following statement.
“Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home at her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills,” the Lynn family said.
Lynn, who was born on April 14, 1932, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, is known as the Queen of Country Music after forging a path as a singer, songwriter, and entertainer while balancing her role as a wife and mother.
Over the course of her iconic 60-year career, Lynn earned a staggering 51 Top 10 hits and 16 No.1 hits to her name, including “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “Fist City” and “Don’t Come Home A’ Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind).” She has also sold over 45 million albums worldwide.
Lynn has also garnered every accolade available in music from GRAMMY awards to induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She has won four GRAMMY awards, seven American Music Awards and eight Country Music Association awards and became the first woman to ever win the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music Awards for Entertainer of the Year.
She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988, the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2008, and was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 2003 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.
Lynn’s death comes just days after she celebrated her 60th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. She joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1962.
Lynn was predeceased by her husband of 48 years Oliver Vanetta “Doolittle” Lynn, her daughter Betty Sue Lynn and son Jack Benny Lynn.
The legendary country singer is survived by her daughters Patsy Lynn Russell, Peggy Lynn, Clara (Cissie) Marie Lynn and her son Ernest Ray Lynn as well as grandchildren Lori Lynn Smith, Ethan Lyell, Elizabeth Braun, Tayla Lynn, Jack Lynn, Ernest Ray Lynn Jr., Katherine Condya, Alexandria Lynn, Jasyntha Connelly, Megan Horkins, Anthony Brutto, Jason Lynn, Wesley Lynn, Levi Lynn, Emmy Rose Russell, David Russell, Lucca Marchetti and step grandchildren David Greer, Jennafer Russell, Melody Russell and Natalie Rapp, and her great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to the Loretta Lynn Foundation. Information about a memorial service/celebration of life will be made available at a later date. For more information, visit LorettaLynn.com.
