American Idol contestant Emmy Russell is a coal miner’s great-granddaughter, and she paid homage to her grandmother, the late Country Music Hall of Famer Loretta Lynn, on Monday’s (April 29) episode of the talent competition.
Seated at a piano, Russell performed Loretta Lynn’s signature song: the 1970 hit “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” The song focuses on Lynn’s Kentucky childhood, watching as her father worked hard in the coal mines to provide money for basic food and clothing for his family. As Russell performed the song, large screens showed Russell’s mother, Patsy Lynn, as she watched in the audience.
On Monday night, Russell advanced to the top seven on the show. For her Idol audition, Russell performed her own original song called “Skinny.” Throughout her time on the show so far, she’s also performed covers of Blink-182’s “All the Small Things” and Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”
Russell previously told People of a special moment just prior to her Idol performance of “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” “I think just closing my eyes and telling her, ‘I’m proud of you.’ I did that in rehearsal. I was like, ‘I’m proud of you.’ I want people to feel proud of their story, where they’ve come from, and I hope that that song made them feel like, ‘Oh, I can be proud of where I come from.’ I’m just really grateful.”
Loretta Lynn died at age 90 on Oct. 4, 2022. Lynn earned 16 chart-toppers on what is now the Hot Country Songs chart and was the first woman to win entertainer of the year at the CMA Awards. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988. Lynn’s 1976 autobiography Coal Miner’s Daughter was later adapted for the big screen, with Sissy Spacek in the lead role as Lynn in the 1980 movie. Spacek won an Academy Award for her role as Lynn. In 2021, Lynn issued her 46th solo studio album, Still Woman Enough.
Russell is following in the family tradition, as her mother Patsy has also been involved in music. Patsy teamed with her sister Peggy to form the duo The Lynns in the 1990s and earned CMA Awards nominations for vocal duo of the year in 1998 and 1999.
See Russell’s performance below:
