Loretta Lynn (Sissy Spacek) was born into an impoverished family from Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. At the age of 13 she met and married Doolittle (Mooney) Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones). Loretta found the expectations of her husband to be daunting, especially since they included dealing with his drinking and carousing with other women. Still a child herself, she had four babies to care for before she turned twenty. Around age 20, Mooney started taking her to sing at various local honky tonks. Mooney had her make a demo tape which got her noticed by a small studio where she made a record. Then the couple took a lengthy car trip, stopping at radio stations all the way, to try and promote her record. Though exhausting, the trip paid off. Loretta’s first song, “Honky Tonk Girl”, made the charts and got her a chance to sing on the Grand Old Opry. She was befriended by Patsy Cline (Beverly d’Angelo), and the two, along with their husbands, went on a bus tour together. Devastated by Patsy’s death, Loretta continued to write songs and produce hit records. Her own health was always a major concern as she was underweight and physically exhausted.