Jack White Remembers Loretta Lynn in New Video

Following the announcement of her death on Tuesday, a number of tributes poured in honoring Loretta Lynn. The singer-songwriter re-emerged as a force in the early 2000s on the strength of Van Lear Rose, her album that was produced by Jack White. That album, which was her 42nd studio album, was widely praised and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and No. 24 on the Billboard 200. The album won Grammys for Best Country Album and “Portland Oregon” won for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 2005.

Hours after her death, White paid tribute to his friend in a video posted on his Instagram account.

“I said when I was first asked about her what I thought and I said years ago that I thought she was the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century. I still believe that,” White said.

“Loretta used to say to make it in the business, 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 and there’s plenty of evidence to back that up too,” he continued.

After reflecting on her brilliance as an artist, White said that “she was just a genius and just brilliant at what she did and we were lucky to have her and people can learn from example the rags to riches part of it and the beautiful natural voice part of it.”