Loretta Lynn will receive the Artist of a Lifetime award when the ninth annual CMT Artists of the Year celebration premieres live Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. ET/PT from Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

She is the latest Artist of a Lifetime honoree following Merle Haggard (2014), Kenny Rogers (2015) and Shania Twain (2016). Oscar winner Sissy Spacek will present Lynn with her award.

"I'm always so proud when I receive any awards for my music, but when I heard it was this year's ‘Artist of a Lifetime’ award it made me really happy,” Lynn says. “It's an honor to be able to make music that people enjoy and I'm really excited to have a new album coming out. Thank you CMT for acknowledging me with this award and for honoring the women in country music at ‘Artists of the Year.’"

Lynn is a three-time Grammy winner, a Kennedy Center honoree and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom who is a member of the Country Music, Songwriter and Nashville Songwriters halls of fame.

A self-taught guitarist and songwriter, Lynn has more than half a century of recording and touring to her name and is known one of the most distinctive country performers in the 1960s and 1970s. She shook up Nashville by writing her own songs, many of which tackled boundary-pushing topics drawn from her own life experiences as a wife and mother.

"Coal Miner's Daughter," "Fist City" and "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)" are just three of 16 country No. 1s. She has sold over 45 million records worldwide. Lynn’s latest studio album, Wouldn't It Be Great, arrives Friday (Sept. 28).

The CMT Artists of a Year special will feature once-in-a-lifetime performances, tributes and unforgettable toasts as some of the biggest stars of music, film and television gather to celebrate the five female artists selected by CMT as the top artists of the year: Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman and Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott. This is also one of the only televised events in the genre that honors female singers in groups who have been the fabric of mainstream country music within the last decade.

Additionally, on Oct. 17 CMT will stage an all-female artist takeover across its platforms, including music hours on CMT, the 24-7 digital channel CMT Music and CMT Radio’s widely-syndicated shows CMT Radio LIVE and CMT After Midnite to encourage and inspire increased female airplay on show day.

Additional performers, presenters and special guests for the CMT Artists of the Year special will be announced at a later date.

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