Coal Miner's Daughter 1980

In the rustic hills of Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, a small coal-mining community in 1945, Loretta Webb (13) is one of eight siblings born to Ted Webb, a hardworking Van Lear miner, and his wife. Despite the poverty that grips their lives, the family manages to thrive in a tight-knit community where every day is a struggle. Fast-forward to 1948: Loretta marries Oliver “Mooney” Lynn (22), and by the time she turns 19, they have four young children between them. The family relocates to northern Washington State, where Mooney finds work in the forest industry, and Loretta begins singing at local honky-tonks on weekends.

As her music career takes off, Loretta’s occasional appearances on radio stations become a regular occurrence. By the time she reaches 25, Norm Burley, owner of Zero Records, a small Canadian record label, is impressed by her talent during one of these early radio broadcasts. He offers to fund a trip to Los Angeles for the couple to cut a demo tape, resulting in Loretta’s first single, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” After returning home from the recording sessions, Mooney suggests they embark on a promotional tour to push the record. With Mooney’s own publicity photo and countless late nights spent writing letters to show promoters and radio disc jockeys across the South, Loretta and her family prepare for an extensive road trip, carrying with them records, photos, and their young children in tow.

However, tragedy strikes when Loretta receives a distressing phone call from her mother, informing her of her father’s sudden passing. Despite this unexpected turn of events, Loretta and Mooney hit the road, using their music as a way to cope with their grief while promoting Loretta’s new single to radio stations across the South.

As Loretta’s country tunes begin to resonate across the airwaves, she finds herself swept up in a whirlwind of fame and fortune. Unbeknownst to the unsuspecting couple, their lives are about to take a dramatic turn as Loretta’s debut single “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” starts making waves on the charts, driven by the insatiable demand from radio listeners and jukebox devotees alike. This newfound popularity culminates in an invitation to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, where she takes her rightful place among the country music elite.

In the sweltering summer of 1961, after a string of seventeen consecutive sold-out shows on the Opry stage, Loretta is honored with a spot on Ernest Tubb Record Shop’s renowned Midnite Jamboree. It’s here that she pays tribute to her idol, the inimitable Patsy Cline, by dedicating Cline’s newest hit “I Fall to Pieces” as a heartfelt musical get-well card during a broadcast that reaches the singer herself, who is recovering from a life-threatening car accident in hospital. This serendipitous encounter sparks a lasting friendship between Loretta and Patsy, which is tragically cut short by Cline’s untimely passing in a plane crash on March 5, 1963.

As the years unfold, Loretta’s meteoric rise to stardom takes its toll. The relentless pressure of touring, maintaining her public image, and juggling her demanding career with her personal life conspire to exact a devastating price: a nervous breakdown that strikes without warning during a concert performance. After a period of reflection and rejuvenation spent at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, Loretta re-emerges on the scene, determined to reclaim her place as the “First Lady of Country Music”.

The film concludes with Loretta recounting the extraordinary story of her life through the poignant lyrics of her 1970 hit song “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, which resonates deeply with a packed audience eager to hear the tale of this country music icon.