In the world of country music, there are stories so deeply moving and surreal that they almost demand a suspension of disbelief from the audience. If they were written as fiction, people would mock them for being too extraordinary. Yet, time and time again, country music has given us such tales, and this is what preserves the mystique of the music and the artists of the past, long outlasting their lifespan in popular culture.
One of those stories, if not one of the finest, is how destiny allowed Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty to reunite one last time during his final moments on earth.
Conway Twitty passed away on June 5, 1993 — exactly 30 years ago. He had been performing in Branson, Missouri, and was on his tour bus heading back to Nashville for the annual Fan Fair held during the first week of June (now known as CMA Fest). While on the bus, Conway suddenly collapsed. He had suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Conway Twitty passed away on June 5, 1993 — exactly 30 years ago. He had been performing in Branson, Missouri, and was on his tour bus heading back to Nashville for the annual Fan Fair held during the first week of June (now known as CMA Fest). While on the bus, Conway suddenly collapsed. He had suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Standing on their own, they seemed to be complete opposites. Conway Twitty was the sleek, suave man who always got his way, while Loretta Lynn was the confident, fiercely independent woman who always knew how to put a man in his place. On paper, it was an odd pairing. But on stage and in the studio, the combination was flawless, serving as the perfect complement to their respective legendary solo careers without ever getting in the way.
One of the reasons the duo worked so well was that Loretta’s famous husband, Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, adored Conway Twitty, and Conway’s third wife, Delores “Dee” Henry, was deeply fond of Loretta Lynn—as was Conway’s second wife, Temple “Mickey” Medley, to whom Twitty was married from 1956 to 1984. The relationship between Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn was always strictly professional. But one of the reasons the duets were so successful was that they also loved each other deeply as friends.
Conway and Loretta’s run as a full-time duo had mostly ended after a decade in 1981, save for a 1988 single titled “Making Believe”. Their solo careers were simply too massive for them to manage otherwise. However, they remained close friends and occasionally performed together.
Yet, it wasn’t a reunion show or a planned get-together that brought Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn back together on the day he died. It was pure destiny. As Conway lay in agony on his tour bus, his driver rushed him to Cox Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri, for help. By absolute coincidence, when Conway Twitty arrived, Loretta Lynn was already at that exact hospital, caring for her husband, Doolittle, who was suffering from diabetes complications and was in critical condition himself.
“When they brought Conway in, I couldn’t believe it,” Lynn told Ralph Emery in an interview years later. “I just couldn’t believe it. It was the worst thing I ever went through. I’d stay with Dee (Conway’s wife) and stay with the band a while, then I’d run up and see Doo, and then run back down and sit with Dee. And then I’d run back up to see how Doo was, because he was in such bad shape. They thought he might die at any minute. I was in awful shape myself.”
Loretta Lynn was in a Springfield, Missouri hospital, running up and down the hallways, tending to the two most important men in her life, both fighting for survival.
“After a long time, the preacher came,” Loretta continued. “‘Do you want to see Conway?’ I said, ‘Why, what’s wrong?’ He said, ‘Do you want to see him? This is the last time you’ll see him alive.’ I said, ‘Let me get Dee.’ I took Dee by the hand and said, ‘Let’s go see Conway.’ I told Conway, ‘Conway, don’t die. You know you love to sing. You’re going to be alright.’ Dee talked to him and said, ‘Conway, you’ve been through rougher things than this.’”
Shortly after, Loretta Lynn left again to check on Doolittle, and just as she stepped into his room, “They came behind me and said ‘Conway’s gone,’” Loretta recalled. Conway Twitty was only 59 years old.
If this story had unfolded in Nashville, it might not be so hard to believe that both Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty were present in his final moments, or that friends like Loretta would have been called to Conway’s side when the worst happened. But this was in Springfield, Missouri, and it was entirely by chance that Loretta Lynn happened to be there.
And that is why country music is so much more than just songs, artists, and albums. It is the stories, the friendships, the love, and the heartbreaks that color those moments that make it more than just “music.”