Artist Loretta Lynn

In the ’60s and ’70s, Loretta Lynn challenged the country status quo, gleefully singing about exchanging her maternity gear for hot pants in “The Pill” and the then-scandalous idea that women didn’t sign away their sexual agency upon marrying in “Don’t Come Home A’ Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind).” And while “Fist City” isn’t exactly a feminist anthem, it is the greatest trash-talk ever put to melody—a sweet but extremely serious ode to fighting (literally) for the one you love. Thanks to superfans like Jack White (who produced 2004’s well-received Van Lear Rose), the now almost 80-year-old—and still epically spunky—Lynn has been exposed to a whole new generation of boundary-breakers.

Updated 04/23/2012