Reba McEntire Calls Loretta Lynn ‘the Most Special Thing Country Music Has Ever Had’

Reba McEntire recently joined Loretta Lynn on Lynn’s new album Still Woman Enough, singing on the title track along with Carrie Underwood. In a behind-the-scenes video documenting the making of the song, McEntire reflected on Lynn’s legacy in country music, holding back tears as she explained what Lynn means to her. “One thing I’d like to say, if I don’t choke up when I’m saying it, I love her,” McEntire said. “She is the most special thing country music, I think, has ever had. I mean that with all my heart.”

“To get to sing with Loretta Lynn, the person that I’ve learned to much from over, I think, 60 years of my life, I was honored that y’all asked me to do this because I’ve watched the movie, I read the books,” McEntire added. “She is still woman enough. And to have that kind of attitude, everybody’s, the Me Too movement and woman’s got to be stronger, Loretta’s been strong all her life. And that’s something that she taught me, just like my momma taught me. You be strong. You take up for yourself. And to get to sing the song ‘Still Woman Enough’ with her, that’s an anthem that women need to carry forever.”

“Still Woman Enough” was written by Lynn with her daughter Patsy Lynn Russell and is a celebration of the resilience of women. “I’m still woman enough / Still got what it takes inside,” the chorus reads. “I know how to love, lose and survive / Ain’t much I ain’t seen, I ain’t tried / I been knocked down but never out of the fight / I’m strong but I’m tender, wise but I’m tough / And let me tell you, when it comes to love / I’m still woman enough.”

“When we were kind of talking about doing this and you hear the song title ‘Still Woman Enough’ it’s like, you know it’s going to be kind of something sassy,” Underwood said. “And then when I heard it, it definitely made sense that the three of us would be singing it together. It does kind of feel like this not just female get-together song, but it’s like, we’re lifting each other up, we’re kind of standing together. I love moments like that, where we get to do that.”

Along with McEntire and Underwood, Still Woman Enough also features collaborations with Margo Price and Tanya Tucker. “I am just so thankful to have some of my friends join me on my new album. We girl singers gotta stick together,” Lynn previously said in a statement, via Billboard. “It’s amazing how much has happened in the 50 years since Coal Miner’s Daughter first came out and I’m extremely grateful to be given a part to play in the history of American music.”