Jenna Bush Hager Recalls The Time Loretta Lynn Attempted To Give Her A Guitar Lesson

Loretta Lynn and Jenna Bush Hager
Loretta Lynn and Jenna Bush Hager
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Scott Dudelson/Getty Images; NBC/Getty Images

Jenna Bush Hager joined the long list of celebrities paying tribute to Loretta Lynn in the aftermath of the country music icon's passing this week.

"Whenever I interviewed her, she was surrounded by children and grandchildren, and that's who we're thinking of today. She was also hilarious," Hager said while looking back on Lynn's legendary career on Today Wednesday.

"Loretta was the undisputed queen of country, and like many, many others, I adored her," she continued.

Hager went on to recall how the ever-sassy Lynn attempted to teach her how to play the guitar during an interview back in 2018.

"She said, 'Now Jenna, use your middle finger. And I said, 'I've used that once or twice.' And she said, 'That's why I told you to use it,'" Hager told her laughing co-hosts.

"She knew how strong it was!" Savannah Guthrie chimed in.

"She sure did," Hager replied.

Lynn passed peacefully in her sleep Tuesday, October 4, at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. The country legend was 90.

Lynn already had four children before launching her career in the early 1960s. Her biggest hits came in the 1960s and '70s, including "Coal Miner's Daughter," "You Ain't Woman Enough," "The Pill," "Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)," "Rated X," and "You're Looking at Country."

Listen To Loretta Lynn's Podcast Episode

Over the course of her trailblazing, six-decade career, Lynn was inducted into more music Halls of Fame than any female recording artist. The four-time-Grammy-winner became the first woman to be named the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year in 1972 and sold more than 45 million records worldwide.

Rest in peace, Loretta.