Liza Mitchell
Country artist Lorrie Morgan is bringing heart and soul to Jacksonville with a special July 28 performance at the Ritz Theatre and Museum, 829 North Davis Street. Tickets will be available at the Tom Bush Family of Dealerships Box Offices located at the Ritz Theatre and Museum and Veterans Memorial Arena (800-745-3000, or buy online here).
In an industry where the latest ingénue is often regarded as the “next big thing,” Lorrie Morgan is living her truth as a modern woman making country music history. Her most recent record Letting Go . . . Slow, released in 2016 by Shanachie Entertainment, reflects a soulful approach to her style, sound and story. “Every song on this album are songs that I have lived,” says Morgan. “I decided at this point in my life, I’m not messing around anymore. I’m singing songs that women my age, people my age, [can relate to]. You know, it’s fun to turn the radio on and listen to a little bubblegum Romeo and Juliet or whatever, but that’s not where I’m at in my life. Where I’m at in my life is what I’ve been through, how I’ve survived and the heartaches I’ve been through.”
Morgan established her place as a country star, selling over eight million records including 14 top ten hits, 12 recorded albums. She was also named Female Vocalist of the Year four times, making her mark with timeless country standards, ‘Five Minutes’, ‘Except For Monday’, ‘Something In Red’, ‘Watch Me’, and ‘What Part Of No’.
Named Loretta Lynn Morgan after the country legend Loretta Lynn, Morgan was born to make music. At age 13, she made her debut at The Grand Ole Opry, making her one of the youngest to have made taken the stage at the Mother Church of Country Music. Her performance made a lasting impression on the country music scene.
Three years later, Morgan lost her father, country music star George Morgan. She made the decision to launch her own career touring with her father’s band. She went on to make history when she became a lifetime member of the Grand Ole Opry at the age of 24, the youngest person ever to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
The Nashville native landed her first recording contract in 1988 and earned her first number one single, ‘Five Minutes’ in 1990. Morgan’s second album, Something in Red, was released in 1991 and went platinum. Her third album, Watch Me, was released in 1992 and contained the number-one single, ‘What Part of No’. Watch Me also sold over one million copies, making Morgan the first female country artist to have three albums in a row to be certified platinum.
In 1994, Morgan was voted “Female Vocalist of the Year” by country music fans at TNN’s Music City News Awards. She would earn this honor again in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Morgan’s Greatest Hits album, which produced her third number-one single, ‘I Didn’t Know My Own Strength’, was released in 1995.
Morgan defines her success by her love of a great song and ability to sell it. Over the past two decades, as musical trends have come and gone, she has remained true to herself. Today, Morgan embodies the essence of country music femininity and a renaissance woman of the genre recognized as royalty by her fans and her peers. “I still have heart aches. I still have days where I’m like ‘oh my God, I feel so sad today’ and I’m hurting over something that happened years ago and just came up in my mind, and that’s what this album is about,” she says. “It’s about everything I feel as a woman. And “Letting You Go . . . Slow”, I definitely related to that song.”
When she’s not on tour or in the recording studio, Morgan performs regularly at the legendary Grand Ole Opry and spends time at her Nashville home with her husband Randy, her daughter Morgan, son Jesse, her grandchildren and her dogs Weezy, Puddin’ and Abby Ray.
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