Looking at Patty Loveless's life, her early story seemed to have her destined for the stage. She was born Patricia Ramey in 1957 in Pikeville, Kentucky as the daughter of a coal miner. Her father gave her a guitar when she was eleven and soon the musically inclined Loveless was singing with her brother. The two went to Nashville when Loveless was just 14, and there she met Porter Wagoner. He told her to finish high school before pursuing her dreams, but by the time she was 16, she had a part singing with the Wilburn Brothers. The Wilburn's dummer, Terry Lovelace, later became Loveless's husband and where she got her name.

The marriage didn't last, but the name stuck. She moved to Nashville in 1985 and got a deal with MCA Records. She released her first, self-titled album in 1987 and started releasing top 10 singles. She was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1988 and married producer Emory Gordy Jr. the year after. She signed with Epic records in 1992 and found a number one hit the next year, "Blame It on Your Heart." She followed it with more hit albums and won the CMA album of the year in 1995, the second woman to ever do so.

1996 scored two number one hits for Loveless and a CMA female vocalist of the year award as well as the ACM top vocalist award. She won another CMA with her 1998 collaboration with the legendary George Jones, "You Don't Seem to Miss Me." She released more charting albums and took a step away from her normal style to release Mountain Soul in 2001, which had the sounds of traditional Appalachian music. She released a Christmas album in 2002. Loveless continues to release new material like Sleepless Nights, which dropped in September of 2008.