Grammys 2023: Kacey Musgraves’ Loretta Lynn Tribute Includes Incredibly Special Detail

Kacey Musgraves will take part in the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in memoriam segment, paying tribute to the late country music icon Loretta Lynn. The “Coal Miner’s Daughter” singer’s estate confirmed a very special detail about the tribute. Musgraves and Lynn performed together and the “Butterflies” singer has been open about Lynn’s influence on her music.

Ahead of the Grammys on Sunday night, Lynn’s estate shared that Musgraves will perform “Coal Miner’s Daughter” using one of Lynn’s guitars. “The [Recording Academy] were so special to Loretta. She was nominated or won an award every decade (multiple times) for 6 decades in a row! Amazing,” the statement read. “The show’s tribute to her by [Musgraves] will be especially touching as Kacey will be playing Loretta’s very own Epiphone guitar.”

Lynn died on Oct. 4, 2022, at 90. The in memoriam segment will also include Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, and Mick Fleetwood performing “Songbird” in tribute to Christine McVie. Quavo and Maverick City Music will perform “Without You” as a tribute to rapper Takeoff.

Musgraves, 34, and Lynn famously performed together at the 2014 CMA Awards. They performed a surprise duet of Lynn’s 1971 hit “You’re Lookin’ at Country.” Musgraves also performed “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)” during a 2019 birthday tribute concert to Lynn at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

In a 2019 interview with PopCulture.com, Musgraves said Lynn and Dolly Parton were the two biggest influences on her music. “Two of my biggest influences would be Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, not just because of their remarkable appearances but because of the substance that they infused into their songs,” Musgraves told us. “I don’t take that lightly that they paved the pathway for me. I grew up singing up all their songs. They’re ingrained in my brain. It’s really important to me.”

Lynn was nominated for 18 Grammy Awards between 1966 and 2018. She won her first in 1971 for “After the Fire Is Gone,” a duet with Conway Twitty. In 2004, she won Best Country Vocal Collaboration for “Portland, Oregon” with Jack White and Best Country Album for Van Lear Rose. In 2010, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Musgraves has also achieved unprecedented success at the Grammys as a country artist. In 2019, she shocked the music world when Golden Hour won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Golden Hour also won Best Country Album, while “Space Cowboy” won Best Country Song, and “Butterflies” won Best Country Solo Performance. She also won Best Country Song for “Merry Go ‘Round” and Best Country Album for Same Trailer Different Park in 2014.

The Grammys begins on CBS at 8 p.m. ET, live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Trevor Noah is hosting. Beyonce was the most nominated artist with nine, and she already won Best Dance/Electronic Recording for “Break My Soul” and Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa.”