It’s been eleven years since Loretta Lynn’s late-career renaissance peaked with the Jack White-produced Van Lear Rose, the 2005 Grammy winner for Best Country Album. The unlikely pairing of the White Stripe and the First Lady of Country Music produced some of the finest music of Lynn’s career and gave White his first opportunity to show that his skills extended far beyond the garage.
This week, the city of Nashville honored both Lynn and White’s individual contributions to country music and to the city’s culture by inducting them into the Music City Walk of Fame. In his presentation of Lynn’s star, White said, “I love her so much, I could talk about her for hours.” “I think she embodies feminism, and she broke ground for women more than anybody else did, before anybody else did,” he added.
“He’s been here in Nashville for a little while,” Lynn said of White. “He didn’t have to be here too long for you to understand that we needed him, really. Nashville needed Jack White. And I think he’s one of the greatest artists there is.”
Lynn and White’s stars join those of legends Ernest Tubb, Kris Kristofferson, and Hank Williams (alongside many others and a few questionable choices).
In November, Lynn announced a multi-album deal that will see the first release of new material since Van Lear Rose, while White has been keeping himself busy in the real-estate game.
Below, watch Lynn and White perform Van Lear Rose’s “Portland, Oregon” on Letterman.
(via USA Today)
