INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Loretta Lynn Postpones Concerts After Grandson Jeffrey Allen Lynn Dies Unexpectedly

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 08:00 PST, Jun 9, 2016

Country music legend Loretta Lynn has been forced to postpone two of her scheduled concert dates after her grandson Jeffrey Allen Lynn, 47, died unexpectedly on Monday.

Loretta, 84, shared the heartbreaking news on her official Facebook page in a post titled “Loretta Mourns the Loss of Grandson.” According to the post, Jeffrey was the eldest son of Jack Lynn, Loretta’s second child. Jack was one of six children born to the singer and her late husband Oliver Vanetta Lynn, who was also known as “Doolittle,” “Doo,” and “Mooney,” according to the Boot.

Loretta and Oliver were also parents to Betty, 64, Ernest, 65, Clara, 64, and twins Peggy and Patsy, 51. Jeffrey, who was only 47-years-old at the time of his death, leaves behind three children — Jory, Katie, and Cody. His cause of death has not been announced.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first tragedy to come Loretta’s way. Her eldest son, Jack Benny, drowned on July 22, 1984, as he was attempting to cross the Duck River, which runs through the Lynn family’s property, on horseback. He was only 34 at the time of his death. Just days before his 70th birthday, in August 1996, Oliver died from diabetes-related health problems and heart failure, and in July 2013, Loretta’s eldest daughter, Betty Sue, passed away at age 64 after a battle with emphysema.

Read her statement, which was also shared on her official website, below.

“American music icon, Loretta Lynn is mourning the passing of her eldest grandson, Jeffrey Allen Lynn who died unexpectedly on Monday. Jeffrey was 47 and lived and worked on Loretta Lynn’s ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Jeffrey was the eldest son of Jack Benny Lynn, Lynn’s second child and eldest son who tragically drowned in 1984. Jeffrey Allen Lynn is survived by three children, Jory, Katie and Cody.

“Loretta Lynn was scheduled to perform this Friday, June 10 in Miami, Oklahoma and Saturday, June 11 in Hinton, Oklahoma, however those shows will be postponed to July 8 and November 12 so Loretta can be with her family.”

According to Us Weekly, Lynn released her first studio album in 10 years, Full Circle, in March, and it quickly became her highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200 list. The album was only her second to reach the top 40 on the all-genre list. Her first was her 2004 album Van Lear Rose, which debuted and peaked at No. 24.

Per Billboard, Full Circle “marked her 40th top 10 on the Top Country Albums chart, where it starts at No. 4. She’s collected 11 No. 1s on the list.”

Full Circle features 14 tracks, listed below, and is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon.

  1. Whispering Sea Introduction
  2. Whispering Sea
  3. Secret Love
  4. Who’s Gonna Miss Me?
  5. Black Jack David
  6. Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven
  7. Always On My Mind
  8. Wine Into Water
  9. In The Pines
  10. Band Of Gold
  11. Fist City
  12. I Never Will Marry
  13. Everything It Takes
  14. Lay Me Down

“I just write about what I would do if it was me,” Loretta told Rolling Stone when asked about singing her own songs. “Some of the songs was me going through the stuff I was writing about. Like ‘Fist City.’ There’s a lot of songs I’ve written that are about what things I’ve went through. I’ve had women come up and tell me that they were going through the same things. So I usually write from a woman’s standpoint, unless it’s something that doesn’t have to be, like, ‘Who’s Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone?'”

Lynn is currently on the road to promote her new album and still has several months of touring to go. Click here to check out Loretta Lynn’s remaining tour dates.

[Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP Images]

Share this article: Loretta Lynn Postpones Concerts After Grandson Jeffrey Allen Lynn Dies Unexpectedly
Loretta Lynn
More from Inquisitr