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