Earlier this month, country legend Loretta Lynn died at 90 years old. Since then, Country Music Television (CMT) has been putting together a tribute special, Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Celebration Of The Life & Music Of Loretta Lynn, that aired last night (October 30). Surprisingly, Taylor Swift made an unannounced appearance on the program via a short video clip.
In it, Swift says (as Hollywood Life notes):
“I’m so grateful to Loretta for being an example, not only for songwriters everywhere, but more specifically female songwriters. She was so ahead of her time. The way she exercised brutal, truthful, fearless honesty every time she sat down to write a song is something that changed music forever and paved the way for every songwriter who’s trying to be truthful and honest today.”
Back in 2016, Lynn was supportive of Swift’s shift away from her country roots to more pop-oriented music, saying, “Taylor: get it, girl! That’s what she wanted. I am about as pop as corn bread.”
Shortly after Lynn’s passing, Jack White — who collaborated with Lynn on her 2004 album Van Lear Rose — offered some kind words, saying in a video message, “What a sad day today is: We lost one of the greats, Loretta Lynn. I said when I was first asked about her what I thought, and I said years ago that I thought she was the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century. I still believe that.”