WhatLoretta Lynnwants for her birthday, she gets. So, sure enough, asCamled a sold-out Nashville arena crowd in “Happy Birthday” on Monday night, a ginormous fake cake was rolled onto the stage. Out poppedKeith Urbanfrom its top, arms flung high in “ta-da!” formation.
Everyone cheered, of course, even though most no doubt could see it coming. Urban, who can now claim the title of “country’s best sport,” was just obliging the country queen, who’d mischievously requested the stunt when her tribute concertwas announced back in January.
The actual surprises of the evening were saved for the performances, when star after star took the Bridgestone Arena stage to honor the iconic Coal Miner’s Daughter two weeks shy of her 87th birthday.
Keith Urban.John Shearer/Getty
In fact, Urban’s real surprise came in the Lynn song he chose to perform, “Blue Kentucky Girl.” He made his first stage appearance long before the cake trick, first rushing to hug Lynn, who was enjoying the celebration seated stageside with about a dozen family members.
Loretta Lynn and her wax figure.John Shearer/Getty
It has to be an all-time favorite: Urban sang it asa surprise guest, along with Miranda Lambert,atDierks Bentley’srecent Bridgestone concert. This time around, Urban jilted his beloved guitar to accompany himself on a grand piano, tapping into his feminine side to deliver a transcendent performance.
Darius Rucker.Jason Kempin/Getty
While Urban was merely bending gender,Darius Ruckercrushed it to smithereens, offering a head-spinning — and fearless — performance of Lynn’s controversial salute to oral birth control.
Loretta Lynn and Darius Rucker.Jason Kempin/Getty
The majority of Lynn’s signature female-centric hits went to the roster of women artists who showed up to exalt their hero.Margo Price, beatifically eight months pregnant,sang the most appropriate Lynn song, “One’s On the Way.”
Jack White and Margo Price.John Shearer/Getty
Newlywed Miranda Lambertthanked Lynn and her music “for advice … about when husbands piss you off a little bit” before she launched into “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind).” She then joined the other twoPistol Annies,Angaleena PresleyandAshley Monroe,on “Fist City,” a reprise of their 2012 performance for Lynn’s 50th Grand Ole Opry anniversary.
Miranda Lambert.
Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley and Miranda Lambert of The Pistol Annies.
Grammy’s new darling, Kacey Musgraves,picked “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man),” a song she said she’s been singing “since I was about 12 years old.” Another recent Grammy winner,Brandi Carlile,set a bonfire onstage with “She’s Got You,” one of the Patsy Cline songs that appeared on Lynn’s 1977 tribute album to her bestie.
Kacey Musgraves.Jason Kempin/Getty
Brandi Carlile.Jason Kempin/Getty
The second half of the concert turned a spotlight on Lynn’s classic collaborations with the late Conway Twitty, allowing for a string of twangy duets:Garth BrooksandTrisha Yearwoodon “After the Fire Is Gone”;George StraitandMartina McBrideon “Lead Me On”; andAlan JacksonandLee Ann Womack(in a circa-’60s Loretta bouffant) on “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man.”
Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks.John Shearer/Getty
Martina McBride and George Strait.John Shearer/Getty
Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack.John Shearer/Getty
Crystal Gayle and Peggy Sue.
In fact, the birthday girl was happily indulged and fêted from start to finish, accepting hugs, bouquets and kisses (blown and planted) from all the artists who came to celebrate with her. She seemed to save her most delight, however, for rockerJack White, who gave Lynn a late-career surge when he produced her 2004 Grammy-winning albumVan Lear Rose.
Though frailfrom a 2017 stroke and a broken hip,suffered last year, Lynn got to her feet to greet White with a warm embrace and she clapped her way through his electric performance of “Have Mercy,” a cut offVan Lear Rose.
Loretta Lynn and friends at her birthday concert in April.
The two-and-a-half-hour concert ended on the 28th performance: an all-cast sing — and crowd singalong — of Lynn’s signature hit “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Lynn made her way to the stage, a family member on each arm, to soak in the adulation.
“You ready to sing?” Crystal Gayle asked her sister.
“I don’t want to,” Lynn primly replied.
That mood faded fast for a woman who was born to sing. By the second verse, her singular voice burst through, loud and strong, and it led the way for all the rest, just as it has for six decades and counting.
source: people.com
