One of Kentucky’s favorite daughters, Country superstar Patty Loveless, is publicly declaring war on a disease that has claimed two of her family members: COPD. Other celebrities declaring war on COPD are Bruce Jenner, Danica Patrick, Jim Belushi and Michael Strahan.

Patty Loveless decided to be a spokesperson for the organization, mainly due to the fact that she lost her sister to the disease in 1996.

The Nashville legend and Grand Ole Opry star’s raising awareness for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.  Over 12 million people in the Untied States, alone, have this disease.  Experts believe that the number is actually about twice that – but many don’t recognize the symptoms.

Which is, of course, where people like Patty Loveless come in – to educate us all.

For more information on COPD, go to drive4copd.com and download the campaign song, ‘Drive,’ sung by Patty, herself, for free. She co-wrote the tune with her husband, Emory. You can also take the five-question screener and be automatically entered to win either a trip to this year’s CMA Awards or a NASCAR experience in February.

Now how cool is that?

Finally, you can read more about Patty’s efforts in an interview she gave to Lifescript:  Country Star Patty Loveless Sings Out Against COPD

About Patty Loveless:

Patty Loveless was born Patty Lee Ramey on January 4, 1957 in Pikeville, Kentucky.  Patty was the 6th of 7 children. Although she was born in Pikeville, Patty’s  family lived in a small town nearby named Butcher Holler where her father was a coal miner.

In 1969, the family moved to the Louisville area, seeking treatment for the dad’s lung disease.

Beautiful Patty Loveless first came onto country music’s radar in 1986 with her first (self-titled) album.  Patty has recorded too many country and bluegrass songs to list, but suffice to say she remains one of the best loved artists of all time.

This fact was apparent to us (us being my husband and myself) when we recently attended a Patty Loveless concert at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.  The sold out Opry was filled with a special kind of love that flowed from the artist to each audience member and right back to the artist.  It was a special evening and you could feel it in the air.

Did You Know?

Loveless is a distant cousin of Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle. She is married to Emory Gordy, Jr. (1989 – present), who is also her producer.

On October 21st, 1992 Patty Loveless had  throat surgery. For the next nine weeks, she could not speak or talk! On her 36th birthday, January 4th, 1993, Loveless re-entered her professional life by performing at the Grand Ole Opry.

One of Patty’s crowning achievements was her popular album  When Fallen Angels Fly.  It won the Country Music Association’s Album of the Year award and gave her four Top 10 singles.

Patty Loveless made an abrupt and bold move away from commercial, country/pop in 2001 with a heart-felt, true to form bluegrass album.  Mountain Soul was released to numerous critical accolades but (amidst the Faith Hill and Shania Twain era)  didn’t exactly get the radio support necessary to make albums fly off the shelves.

Patty loved bluegrass as much as bluegrass loved Patty, so she stuck with the genre for a memorable Christmas album, Bluegrass & White Snow: A Mountain Christmas, in 2002.

On Your Way Home, marked a return to more “radio friendly” country, was released in 2003 to critical acclaim.

As of today, Patty has charted more than forty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including five Number Ones.  She has recorded fourteen studio albums (this isn’t counting compilations)  in the United States, four of which have been certified platinum, while two have been certified gold.

Loveless will be inducted into the The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame on April 7, 2011.