Inside Loretta Lynn's Friendship With Patsy Cline

Loretta Lynn, who tragically died on October 4, will always be remembered as one of country music's most beloved and enduring icons. But the Coal Miner's Daughter herself always said she would never have made it as far as she did without her best friend and mentor, Patsy Cline. Though Cline died heartbreakingly young in 1963, Lynn has never forgotten her influence on her life or her friendship. Lynn even named her daughter Patsy in honor of her friend.

"After I met Patsy, life got better for me because I fought back," Lynn once told Nashville Scene in an interview, as Cline helped her learn to stand up to her husband. "Before that, I just took it. I had to. I was 3,000 miles away from my mom and dad and had four little kids. There was nothin' I could do about it. But later on I starting speakin' my mind when things weren't right."

Lynn shared a lot more about the two singers' bond in her memoir: "Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust."

Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline's unbreakable friendship didn't start in a normal way. Lynn wrote in "Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust," (via ABC News) that it began in 1961 when she recorded a cover of Cline's biggest hit, "I Fall to Pieces," for the radio while Cline was recovering from a plane crash that almost killed her. Cline heard it, and asked for Lynn to visit her in the hospital. After that, they became friends for life. Cline taught Lynn how to shave her legs, talk back to her managers, and even how to get her sex life going. 

What would have become of the two friends if Cline hadn't died in another plane crash in 1963? It's a question Lynn herself often pondered. "I've often wondered what she would be doing today if she was here," Lynn told Sounds Like Nashville in 2020. "It would be something else. I can't even imagine. It's too bad we weren't together more and longer. We would have tore up Nashville that's for sure."