Loretta Lynn Postpones Album, Cancels Tour Amid Stroke Recovery -- But Keeps Sense of Humor Fully Intact
Loretta Lynn is focused on healing.
After suffering a stroke in May, the legendary country songstress, 85, continues to recover and has decided to postpone the release of her forthcoming album to 2018 while canceling all 2017 tour dates. According to her representative, Lynn's doctors have ordered her to focus solely on making a full recovery in the meantime.
"Thank you so much for all your prayers, love and support," Lynn said in a statement. "I'm happy to say that I'm at home with my family and getting better by the day! My main focus now is making a full recovery so that I can get back to putting all of me into what I love, sharing my music with all of you.
"My new album, Wouldn't It Be Great, was originally scheduled to come out in August this year. I now want to wait to release it next year because this record is so special for me. It deserves me at my best and I can't wait to share it," she continued. "I want to thank everyone for hanging in there with me. I am getting stronger every day and I can't wait to get back out there with all of you."
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Injecting some of her signature humor into the statement, Lynn added: "I'm just letting everybody know that Willie ain't dead yet and neither am I, and I can't wait to see all of you on the road!"
More than five decades after her 1963 debut, Lynn continues to be one of the hardest working women in country music. Sitting down with ET to promote her last album, 2016's Full Circle, Lynn credited her lasting success to good old-fashioned grit.
"I probably worked harder than anyone in the business," she said at the time. "I worked harder than all of them to tell you the truth. People today are to daggone lazy to do these kinds of things."
See what else she had to say about today's top artists, below.
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