Jack White Makes Last-Minute Tribute to Loretta Lynn at Celebration of Life

By Daniel S. Levine

Jack White gave a heartbreaking performance during Loretta Lynn's celebration of life at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville Sunday night. White was a last-minute addition to the line-up before the show kicked off. White played an instrumental role in Lynn's comeback during the last two decades of her life, and produced her smash hit 2004 album, Van Lynn Rose.

White performed the title track from Van Lynn Rose, which Lynn wrote. The album won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Country Album. It also features "Portland Oregon," a duet she recorded with White that won the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

After Lynn's death on Oct. 4 at age 90, White shared a two-minute video about his experience with the country music icon. "I said years ago I thought she was the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century. I still believe that," White said in part. "Loretta used to say, to make it in the evilness, you had to either be great, different, or first. And she thought that she was just different and that's how she made it, but I think she was all three of those things... What she did for feminism, women's rights, at a time period and in a genre of music that was the hardest to do it in, is just outstanding and will live on for a long time."

When they recorded Van Lynn Rose together, White was often taken aback by her songs. "There were times where I had to just sort of take a pause and step outside because she was so brilliant, I couldn't believe what I was witnessing and hearing," he said. "She was like a mother figure to me, and also a very good friend, at times, and told me some amazing things that I'll never tell anybody."

Coal Miner's Daughter: A Celebration of The Life & Music of Loretta Lynn began at the Gand Ole Opry House at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on CMT. The network is planning to re-air it for those who missed it on Wednesday, Nov. 2, and Sunday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT. The broadcasts will be commercial-free. The show also includes performances from Alan Jackson, Brandi Carlile, Darius Rucker, Emmy Russell & Lukas Nelson, George Strait, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Margo Price, Tanya Tucker, The Highwomen's Carlile, Amanda Shires & Natalie Hemby with Brittney Spencer, and Wynonna with Gaither Vocal Band & Larry Strickland. The show will also be added to Paramount+ in early 2023.

Aside from White's solo performance, the broadcast was set to include rare footage of White and Lynn singing her song "Whispering Sea." The footage was previously only released to Third Man Vault Subscribers in 2004, notes Variety. White and Lynn also performed at the Ryman Auditorium when she shared a bill with the White Stripes around the time Van Lynn Rose was released.

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