43 Years Ago: Loretta Lynn Releases ‘Rated ‘X”
Loretta Lynn Rated X single / Decca Records
Forty-three years ago today, on Nov. 20, 1972, Loretta Lynn released her single “Rated ‘X’.” The song, which describes the double standard that divorced women seemed to face at the time, was from her 1973 Entertainer of the Year album.
Entertainer of the Year was released after Lynn became the first woman to win Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards. “Rated ‘X’” was the only single released from the record and also the only song that she wrote for the album. It became the Kentucky native’s sixth chart-topping tune.
With lines like, “Well, if you’ve been a married woman and things didn’t seem to work out / Divorce is the key to bein’ loose and free, so you’re gonna be talked about / Everybody knows that you’ve loved once, so they think you’ll love again / You can’t have a male friend / When you’re a has-been of a woman, you’re rated ‘X’,” the song was considered a bit controversial at the time.
Entertainer of the Year also landed at the top of the charts, despite the fact that “Rated ‘X’” was the only single on the project.
Lynn included “Rated ‘X’” on several of her compilation albums, including 1978’s All My Best, 1994’s Honky Tonk Girl: The Loretta Lynn Collection and All Time Greatest Hits in 2002.
The White Stripes recorded a version of “Rated ‘X’” in 2001. In September of 2015, only two months after Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton announced their divorce, Lambert performed the song at the 2015 ACM Honors ceremony.
Source: The Boot
