More than a year after she first auditioned for ABC’s American Idol, Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter Emmy Russell recalls one moment that made her mad while on the show. During her recent appearance on The Thrivalist Podcast, Russell recalled the American Idol judges making her sing “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” one of her grandmother’s biggest hits.
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“Judges picked three songs, and the only one I knew was ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter,'” Russell explained about the then-American Idol judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie. “I just remember seeing that, and I was… so mad.”
Noting she was worried about the “nepotism” backlash, Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter stated she thought singing the song during the American Idol audition would add fuel to the fire.
“I just felt that still, small voice saying, ‘I need you to stay, and I need you to show up,'” Russell continued. “And I got on the piano, and I played ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ for the vocal coaches. It was just how I wanted to play it. I had this entire vision for it.”
Russell noted that her vision of the performance was inspired by The Hunger Games. She reminded herself that she was Katniss Everdeen throughout the pro
Emmy Russell Made the Top Five of American Idol Season 22
Among the other songs Emmy Russell performed while on the show were “Here You Come Again” by fellow country music legend Dolly Parton and KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See.”
“I’m a songwriter,” Russell stated in a video featured on American Idol. “It’s in my blood. When I was about 9, I wrote my first real song.”
“Whenever you share a song, it’s very vulnerable,” she continued. “Anything I feel, I write. It just starts coming out of me. I go to my iPhone and my piano – it is my best friend whenever it comes to music. I feel a melody, I go to my iPhone, record it. A lyric, go to it, record it.”
Russell is one of Lynn’s 17 grandchildren. The iconic country singer passed away in 2022 at the age of 90. Her granddaughter made the top five of American Idol Season 22 before being eliminated.