Emmy Russell, ‘Idol’ finalist and Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter, pregnant with first child

A family of country music sweethearts is adding another idol to the list.

Emmy Russell, a 2024 “American Idol” finalist and granddaughter of country legend Loretta Lynn, announced she is expecting a baby girl with boyfriend and singer Tyler Ward.

Russell, 25, and her mother, actor and sometime singer Patsy Lynn, spoke about family, music and memories alongside host Jennifer Vickery Smith on the “Got It From My Momma” podcast.

Ward, 40, rushed to the stage to rub Russell’s belly and share a hug after she announced the news in front of a live audience.

“I’m so excited,” Russell said. “Right out of ‘American Idol,’ I didn’t know, so you know, that’s kind of the journey.”

Russell was eliminated after making the Top 5 Season 22 of “America Idol,” which premiered in February. She wowed judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie with her original song “Skinny” in the later weeks of the competition. The song focuses on Russell’s struggle with body image and weight as a young woman. Post-”Idol,” she released another single, “Redemption.”

Russell’s grandmother was a celebrated artist who defined the feminist country music woman in the 1960s by daring to sing about divorce, birth control and self-determination. Loretta Lynn died in 2022 at age 90 at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

Patsy Lynn said her mother, who had six children and 26 grandchildren, saw her fans as family. “What she was giving her family at home, she was giving her fans on stage because that was her family. That was her road family,” she said, “And those fans followed her for 60 years. So the front row of all the coliseums were friends.”

And while the rest of the world saw a country superstar, Russell saw only “Memaw.”