Loretta Lynn’s Granddaughter Emmy Russell Crosses a First-Ever Career Milestone Following ‘American Idol’

Born with country music in her blood thanks to her grandmother Loretta Lynn, Emmy Russell always seemed destined to perform on stage. Like many before her, the singer struggled with her own identity when trying to find her footing.

And while she competed on American Idol, ultimately being voted off, the singer used that moment to not only find herself but also her voice. Releasing songs like “Skinny”, Russell continues to make a name for herself in the music industry. Proving that she could succeed outside of American Idol, the singer recently crossed a massive milestone on Spotify.

Revolving around the perfect body and how many will do whatever it takes to be perfect, “Skinny” garnered a great deal of praise from fans. And continuing to support her dreams of stardom, Russell recently celebrated her song passing 1 million streams on Spotify. Even The Song House shared a special performance from Russell, who struggled to get through the song at that time.

Emmy Russell Shares Inspiration Behind Hit Song “Skinny”

Gaining thousands of likes, fans congratulated Russell, showering her with love and praise for performing such a raw song. Once discussing her inspiration behind the hit, she said, “I started getting a little bit sick and I was like, ‘Why am I not keeping any of my food down?’ And I think a part of it was the eating disorder in high school, but then the damage that happens to your body and it just happened again. Then I started seeing results from me getting sick, and then it just spun out of control. I felt a lot of shame. I was like, ‘I’m serving God. I’m in Brazil. Why is this coming back?’”

Detailing her life into the spotlight, Russell continued, “I struggled a lot with physical beauty image pressures and social media. I kind of grew up in the spotlight and so I was always very image-conscious.”

No longer struggling with the disorder, Russell hoped her song would help others as she insisted, “You can only really succeed when you’re truly yourself.” She added, “I showed up, no makeup, my red hair, my natural color. And just got on the piano and I was like, ‘Oh, Emmy works. My true self is OK. People relate to that.’”