“THE TIMING OF DEATH, LIKE THE ENDING OF A STORY,
GIVES A CHANGED MEANING TO WHAT
PRECEDED IT.”
Mary Catherine Bateson
One of the benefits of being associated with Western Music is the huge group of truly nice and genuine people. And the huge amount of talent that could cause me to feel real inadequate in comparison. Yet the group of people in this area have been more than gracious in letting me set in with them and once in a while sharing their stage. That is why losing one is so hard. As hard as all the great friends I have lost personally in the last 20 years.
On July 30th in Nashville at Vanderbilt Hospital we lost Lynn Anderson age 67. I met Lynn several times at the Western Music Association Festival and she could have been aloof and wore here stature as a successful artist as some would and not be down to earth and real. She was a very genuine and nice person that always had time for a word and always had a seat at a jam for anyone who wanted to sit in.
I was also very fond of her mother Liz who was just a lovely person and it was handed down to Lynn from her. Lynn was a surprise to her parents when she decided to be an entertainer because she was an active horse woman from a very early age.
She went on to make her mark in Nashville and the mainstream Country Music industry. She had hits on Country and Pop charts and as Nashville left Country & Western behind for the new ‘Hot Country’ sound, Lynn was a survivor. Lynn was a great ambassador for Western music and a great example for the younger artists coming on strong.
Lynn just released a new album a month prior to her death and was getting attention from a music industry who had cast off its stars and created stars with a cookie cutter mentality. I believe that Lynn was about to lead the rediscovery of the music and the artists that put Nashville on the map before the big sell out.
Lynn had been admitted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville with pneumonia and suffered a heart attack. I guess it was fitting because she had such a big heart. She leaves behind her father Casey Anderson, her partner Mentor Williams, three children and four grand children. And a whole host of artists, friends, and fans that will miss her very much.
Lynn just released a new album a month prior to her death and was getting attention from a music industry who had cast off its stars and created stars with a cookie cutter mentality. I believe that Lynn was about to lead the rediscovery of the music and the artists that put Nashville on the map before the big sell out.
Lynn had been admitted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville with pneumonia and suffered a heart attack. I guess it was fitting because she had such a big heart. She leaves behind her father Casey Anderson, her partner Mentor Williams, three children and four grand children. And a whole host of artists, friends, and fans that will miss her very much.
