Loretta Lynn’s Husband: Truth About Her Marriage To Oliver Lynn

• Loretta Lynn’s husband, Oliver Lynn, was married to her for over 4 decades (1948 to 1996) despite their troublesome marriage
• He has been credited as the one who pushed and encouraged his country singing-star wife, Loretta, to become a musician after he married her while she was 15 years old
• Oliver Lynn died of diabetes and heart complications in 1996 and 26 years later, his wife who tended to him in his sick days, also passed away in her sleep. 

Oliver Lynn was country music singer, Loretta Lynn’s husband for several decades. They got married in the late 1940s and remained together until his death in 1996. He got married to the singer and songwriter when she was barely a teenager.

Oliver Lynn isn’t famous for just being the husband of Loretta Lynn. He also played a very vital role in her career and its eventual success.

Together, the couple gave birth to 6 children despite their tumultuous and scandalous marriage. Loretta revealed that her husband was abusive and an alcoholic but remained married to just him throughout her life.

Oliver Lynn was 5 Years Older Than His Wife

When Loretta Lynn’s husband first met her, she was still a young teenager of about 15 years. They met at a pie social event and about a month later, got married. Then, Oliver was 21 years old – 5 years older than his wife.

Oliver Vanetta Lynn Jr. was born on August 27, 1926. His wife was born on April 14, 1932, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. At the time of her birth and marriage, it wasn’t uncommon for young ladies aged 13 and above, living in Kentucky, to get married.

Additionally, she hailed from a very humble background that struggled to make ends meet. She was the first daughter and second child of her coal-mining father, Melvin Theodore Webb who was married to Clara Marie (Ramey).

Loretta Webb and her husband, Oliver, got married on January 10, 1948. He returned from his service to the US Army and began a career as a talent manager. After his marriage to Loretta, they moved to Custer, Washington where he began to pressure her into making music.

Oliver Was Instrumental to Loretta Lynn’s Musical Career

5 years into their marriage, the talent manager bought his wife a guitar as an anniversary gift and made her do music. Oliver believed that his wife would fetch them money by delving into music. He also thought that she was a better singer than most of the country musicians they had at the time.

Loretta wrote her first song on a fishing trip and this birthed her career. She was soon to be a household name with songs like I’m a Honky Tonk Girl and Coal Miner’s Daughter.

More interesting is the fact that over the course of their marriage, Loretta had a lot of experiences that inspired most of her songs. She even confessed one time that all her songs had at least a line about her husband in them.

Doo or Mooney as he was fondly called by the country singer, inspired a lot of her songs. She also admitted that he was a lot of things to her including her security, and safety net, and was instrumental to her growth.

The Marriage between the Country Talent Manager and His Celebrity Wife was Scandalous

Oliver Lynn and Loretta Lynn’s marriage was riddled with violence and infidelities. Despite all Doo’s good deeds, he still had flaws that were impossible to ignore. The singer admitted that her husband cheated on her a couple of times in the course of their marriage.

He was a womanizer, alcoholic, and abuser. She recounted how she was at the receiving end of his anger several times which was mostly influenced by his excessive drinking. However, Loretta was wont to fight back and this kept her in the marriage.

From the first year of marriage, the Coal Miner’s Daughter singer knew about her husband’s debaucheries.

One account of the supposed infidelity that struck home was when her daughter revealed to her that her school bus driver said she would run away with Vanetta Lynn Jr. It so happened that Oliver was allegedly having an affair with the bus driver.

With all she faced in the marriage, Loretta had a lot of inspiration to write songs that propelled her to stardom. Some of her notable songs that clearly depict her stories are; You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man) and Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin.

Oliver Lynn and Loretta Lynn Birthed 6 Children Together

The about 50-year marriage saw Doolittle Lynn and his wife welcome 6 children. Four of their kids were born at the time the talent manager turned 26 years old and his wife was about 20 years. Some 12 years after the birth of his fourth child, he and his wife welcomed twins.

Here are the kids of Oliver Lynn and Loretta Lynn:

• Betty Sue Lynn: She was born on November 26, 1948. She was the first fruit of the marriage. Sue was as gifted as her mother, in creating music and wrote songs using the moniker ‘Tracy Lee’. Some of her songs are ‘Wine, Women, and Song’ as well as ‘Before I’m Over You’. Betty Sue, unfortunately, passed away from complications of emphysema on July 29, 2013, at the age of 64.

• Jack Benny Lynn: He was born on December 7, 1949. He is the one who opted to be a rancher but unfortunately passed away on July 22, 1984. Jack was barely 35 when he died. The cause of his death was said to have been drowning after he struck his head, 3 miles away from home.
• Ernest Ray ‘Ernie’ Lynn: He was born on May 27, 1951. He went into music as well but wasn’t so successful. However, his daughter, Tayla, made up for this as she is a successful singer like her grandmother.
• Clara Marie ‘Cissie’ Lynn: She was born on April 7, 1952. She is a singer just like her mother who began to take music lessons from a very young age. Cissie has song credits of Rodeo Lady to her name but is also famous for covering some of her mother’s songs.
• Peggy Jean and Patsy Eileen Lynn: They were born on August 6, 1964. They are the twins and last offspring of Oliver and his wife. Both girls are also singers and were named after their mother’s sister and friend. They are the most successful of Loretta’s children. They even have CMA Award nominations for their career.

Loretta Lynn’s Husband Died Days before His 70th Birthday

Oliver Vanetta Lynn Jr. died on August 22, 1996, of complications of diabetes and heart issues. He initially had heart surgery about 4 years before his death, in 1992. Eventually, things got complicated and he had to have both his legs amputated.

While Loretta Lynn’s husband was going through this phase of his life, she put her career on hold in order to tend to him. Despite what she believed about him being a womanizer and unfaithful, Oliver confessed to her that he was faithful to her in their marriage.

When he died five days short of his 70th birthday, his wife suffered greatly. She stated that her husband’s death hit her hard and that she thought she saw him everywhere she was. Loretta even had to move away from Hurricane Mills to Nashville.

Despite how tumultuous their marriage was, the couple remained together because they loved each other. Loretta Lynn’s husband and the singer understood each other well and couldn’t afford to be without each other.

Almost 2 Decades After His Death, Oliver Lynn’s Wife Passed On

On October 4, 2022, the 3 times Grammy-award winner and country singer, Loretta Lynn, died in her home located in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Her death happened 26 years after the death of her husband of 48 years.

Prior to her death, Loretta battled a couple of health-related issues. She had severe cases of pneumonia, a fall, and a broken arm. She also underwent knee surgery, and a broken hip, and suffered from a stroke in May 2017.

On the said day of her death, her family reported that she died in her sleep at the age of 90. Oliver Lynn’s wife is survived by four of her six children, about 27 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.