CRYSTAL GAYLE LOST THE NAME SHE WAS BORN WITH — THEN FOUND A VOICE EVEN LORETTA LYNN TOLD HER NOT TO COPY. Before she was Crystal Gayle, she was Brenda Gail Webb. The youngest of eight children born to a coal miner’s family in Kentucky. The little sister of Loretta Lynn. The girl who grew up knowing that one voice in the family had already become country music history….. Then Decca Records gave her a problem. They already had a Brenda. Brenda Lee was too big a name on the label, so Brenda Gail Webb was told she needed another one before the world could hear her. Loretta solved it from the passenger seat. Driving past a Krystal hamburger sign, she looked at her little sister and found the name: Crystal. Bright. Shiny. Different….. But the name was only the first gift. The better one was advice. Do not sound like me. So Crystal Gayle did not chase Loretta’s shadow. She softened the edges, moved toward country-pop, let that smooth voice become its own kind of signature. Her sister gave her a name. Then gave her permission to become herself.
Introduction Crystal Gayle Lost the Name She Was Born With — Then Found a Voice Even Loretta Lynn Told Her Not to Copy Before the fame, before the long dark…