Country crooner Loretta Lynn has come a long way from her dirt poor country roots.

Today, at 76, she still knows how to entertain a room. And on Aug. 13, she makes a stop at the Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Pendleton as part of her national tour.

Lynn doesn't see herself as a legend or a music star.

"I ain't a star. A star is something up in the night sky," she says on her website. "People say to me, 'You're a legend.' But I'm not a legend. I am just a woman."

She's had a bundle of No. 1 hits, and her awards are numerous, including four Grammys, seven American Music Awards and 10 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Her personal history is somewhat of a reflection of her life, about surviving life's harshness, about being proud of her blue-collar heritage as a coal miner's daughter and refusing to be a doormat for any man.

Her tumultuous marriage lasted more than 50 years. She was just 13 when she married 21-year-old Oliver "Doolittle" Lynn.

They moved to Custer, Wash., where Lynn had four children before she was 19.

She spent a few years performing in Tacoma area nightclubs before the family moved to Nashville, where Lynn added twin girls to her family.

Lynn's life might have been packed with hardships, but she never lost touch with her humble beginnings, nor did she ignore fans once she became a megastar.

She once told an editor of a Maryland newspaper when he asked why she spent so much time after a concert signing autographs, "These people are my fans." she said. "I'll stay here until the very last one wants my autograph. Without these people, I am nobody; I love these people."

Her hit song, Coal Miner's Daughter, was also the title of her best-selling book, which was made into a movie starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones. Spacek won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Lynn.

Lynn's music also broke boundaries -- some of her songs were once banned on certain radio stations. Rated X was about the double standards divorced women face. Wings Upon Your Horns was about the loss of teenage virginity. And The Pill was about a wife and mother becoming liberated by birth control pills.

Lynn was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988.

The outdoor concert at Wildhorse starts at 3 p.m. Festival seating is $15, select seats are $35 and premium seats are $55. Tickets are available at www.wildhorseresort.com.

*Dori O'Neal: 582-1514; doneal@tricityherald.com