Published: April 10, 2024
Photo from Emmy Russell’s Instagram
Loretta Lynn’s Granddaughter Shares Scripture That Helped Her Overcome Eating Disorder
By Movieguide® Contributor
Emmy Russell, granddaughter of Loretta Lynn and contestant on this season of AMERICAN IDOL, shared the personal story behind her song, “Skinny.”
Russell explained that she struggled with an eating disorder while in high school. She got it under control but started to notice the long-term effects it had on her health years later.
“All of a sudden 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,” she told people. “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?’”
She returned home to Nashville and started the recovery process, which included exploring her feelings through music.
“When I wrote ‘Skinny,’ I felt a weight of responsibility [and thought], ‘I don’t need to go back to this. I know it’s bad for me,’” Russell said. “And so the more that I sing it, it’s almost like the more that I’m delivering myself and I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. Now I got that feeling out. Now I am above it.’ And so finding a creative outlet for all your pain and beauty. Beauty from ashes, that’s music for me. It’s like the ashes are the pain and I make something out of it.”
Beauty from ashes references Isiah 61:3, which says, “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.”
Russell also shared her advice for anyone going through the same thing: “I feel like talking about it is the best thing, tell your family, talk to a therapist. I feel like just talking about it is the first step. And realize that your beauty is deeper than skin. That’s kind of my mantra is beauty’s deeper than skin. It’s who you are inside. What are you passionate about? Who are you? Who are you? You’re not just this. This just carries your human experience.”
She spoke further about “Skinny” in another interview, explaining, “I think I learned with ‘Skinny,’ even though I have a couple songs that I really love and relate to, ‘Skinny”s the one that I’m going to play because it feels like people connected to that one. Just being open with my experiences in life, hoping that people don’t feel so alone.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Russell’s AMERICAN IDOL audition:
Country singer Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter, Emmy Russell, sang an original song at her AMERICAN IDOL audition, which aired on Feb. 26, and blew the judges away.
“You are an A+ songwriter. So is your grandma. You got the gift,” Judge Katy Perry said after Russell sang her song, “Skinny,” about eating disorders.
“My dear, you have promise,” Judge Lionel Richie said. “And I like your promise. Each one of us is trying to battle something that we’re trying to overcome. In your case, you have big shoes.”
With a grandmother who was a country music legend, Russell felt the pressure to live up to her “Meemaw’s” name.
Judge Luke Bryan told her, “We just gotta lift you up and get you more confident, and you just need to own it.”
“I don’t think you need to compare yourself to what grandma was,” Perry said. “You’re totally different. You shouldn’t give yourself all that pressure.”
Russell also talks about her faith and how it has changed her life.
“Trusting God’s voice has been a journey for me,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Over the past six years, I’ve learned that it’s the only voice worth fighting for. I’m grateful for all my experiences because, in the end, this journey is about love, trust, and taking action. Even if it’s painful, nothing is more painful than not trusting the Holy Spirit within us.”
Russell continued, “There is always a light, no cage can hold us, and freedom is within reach. It’s just a matter of, well… my, your, our willingness and readiness to leave that cage. When we go back to that cage, we can always leave and go back home to Truth. I am deeply loved.”
