Loretta Lynn is 84 years young and she is not only still making music but also still touring. She’s currently promoting her new album White Christmas Blue, her first holiday album in 50 years. The cool thing about being an 84-year old icon is that you can say whatever the hell you want. Fortunately for us, what Loretta has to say is pretty entertaining. Like the fact that she was prescribed marijuana for her glaucoma so she gave it a go earlier this year. And it almost killed her.
Loretta Lynn is sitting aboard her tour bus reminiscing about old friends like Patsy Cline (“Patsy was her own woman and that’s what I adored. I thought, ‘By golly, I’m not the only one — Patsy stands up for herself too.’”) and George Jones (“I bought his old tour bus, but he’d shot through the roof and I never did get that bus to stop leaking!”). Talk turns to Willie Nelson, with whom she recently recorded a duet, “Lay Me Down,” on her Full Circle album, out earlier this year.
“He’s one of the greatest people in the whole world,” Lynn says. “I know he smokes pot, but my goodness, there’s a lot people doing a lot worse then smoking pot!” In fact, she says, she tried it herself, not six months ago. “I got glaucoma and they gave me one of these cigarettes,” she tells PEOPLE. “I took one smoke off of it and it hit me right here in the chest. I like to have died! Glaucoma is just going to have to take over.”
I love that Loretta qualified that Willie’s A-OK even though he smokes pot. Tangent: I’ve never smoked marijuana, if only because I can’t brook the smell, but I know people with both glaucoma and arthritis whose lives have been greatly improved with it. After reading the latest studies on mushrooms containing psilocybin proving effective to ease depression and anxiety, I’m happy so many ‘illegal’ substances are being reexamined for their medicinal qualities – even if they did almost kill the first lady of country music. (Ok, that could alternately be Tammy Wynette.)
Loretta is still writing albums and performing to good reviews but I want her to write a philosophy book next. She has that kind of no nonsense approach to things that I dig. Being 84, her doctors have told her to take it easy, as most octogenarians are not traipsing the country on tour buses. But when they tell her to rest, she responds, “But I’m not tired!” As for why she won’t quit working, “I don’t see no reason to quit right now.” However, it is her philosophy on exercise that makes me a card-carrying Loretta Lynn devotee. When it comes to working out, “I ain’t going to do no exercise! I hate exercise! I had six kids and got over that, so why should I worry about exercise?” Sing it from the mountaintops, Loretta!
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images
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