Loretta Lynn‘s granddaughter Emmy Russell rose to the spotlight in 2024 with a spot on American Idol. During her time on the show, she established her own voice with original performances, but she also paid tribute to her country legend grandmother — especially with a powerful, piano-led rendition of Lynn’s signature song, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”

But now, Russell admits that she wasn’t so sure about covering that particular song.

In a new appearance on The Thrivalist Podcast, the young singer said it wasn’t entirely her idea to sing “Coal Miner’s Daughter” on Idol.

“Judges picked three songs, and the only one I knew was ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter,'” Russell explains. “I just remember seeing that and I was so mad.”

It wasn’t that Russell doesn’t like her famous grandmother’s music: She already felt like some viewers thought her spot on the show was “nepotism,” and by choosing to sing that particular song, she was “just gonna add to it.”

But Russell said that a voice insider her convinced her not to walk away from the opportunity.

“I just felt that still, small [voice]: ‘I need you to stay. I need you to show,'” she continues. “And I got on the piano and I played ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ for the vocal coaches. It was just how I wanted to play it. I had this entire vision for it.”‘

Who is Emmy Russell? How is She Related to Loretta Lynn?

• Emmy Russell is the daughter of Patsy Lynn Russell and her husband Phillip.
• Patsy and her twin sister Peggy are the youngest of Lynn’s six children.
• Russell and her partner Tyler Ward welcomed a daughter of their own last month, after the conclusion of her American Idol run. The singer has since revealed that she nearly died due to postpartum complications.

In addition to honoring Lynn’s musical legacy, Russell made sure that she expressed her own personal style during her time on Idol. She auditioned with an emotional original song called “Skinny.”

Elsewhere on the show, Russell showed creativity with a country-tinged cover of Blink 182’s “All the Small Things.”