Loretta Lynn (née Webb; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022)

(AP) – Loretta Lynn, the acclaimed singer and songwriter whose
ascent from a small Kentucky coal-mining community to national
country music stardom became the stuff of Hollywood legend,
has died.

In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Lynn’s family
said she died Tuesday at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

In May 2017, she suffered a stroke that ended her touring career.

Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry

Gene Autry, the cowboy crooner and Hollywood hitmaker who
helped popularize country-western music and became one of
the most celebrated performers in American history, was born
in Tioga, Texas, on this day in history, Sept. 29, 1907.

"In addition, his success as a singing cowboy launched an entire
genre of movies and paved the way for successful rivals such as
Roy Rogers and Tex Ritter."  (FOX NEWS)

Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022)

(CBS) – Country star Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas
honky-tonk inspired the 1980 film "Urban Cowboy" and a
nationwide wave of Western-themed nightspots, has died.

Gilley died Saturday in Branson, Missouri, where he helped
run the Mickey Gilley Grand Shanghai Theatre. He had been
performing as recently as last month, but was in failing health
over the past week. His death was announced by Jeff Wagner,
mayor of Pasadena, Texas.

Naomi Judd (Diana Ellen Judd)
(January 11, 1946 – April 30, 2022)^[

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Naomi Judd, the Kentucky-born singer
of the Grammy-winning duo The Judds and mother of Wynonna
and Ashley Judd, has died. She was 76.

The daughters announced her death on Saturday in a statement
provided to The Associated Press.

“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful
mother to the disease of mental illness," the statement said. "We
are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as
we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown
territory." The statement did not elaborate further.

In 2021, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as
a member of The Judds alongside her daughter Wynonna.

Singer Loretta Lynn greatly expanded the opportunities
for women in the male-dominated world of country-
western music, was born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky 
on April 14, 1932. She is 89 years young today.

Unlike some country-western stars that sang about a
rural working class life but lived an urban middle class
existence, Loretta Lynn’s country roots were authentic.