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Linda Ronstadt Bio
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Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is a best-selling country rock singer particularly admired for her cover versions of other writers' songs. She has also worked as an actress and is known for being politically outspoken.
Linda Marie Ronstadt was born on July 15, 1946, in Tucson, Arizona, where her brother Peter would later become chief of police. Her father owned a hardware store and also the ranch on which she grew up. The whole family enjoyed music, and her father was keen to immerse her in the rich musical culture of his Mexican ancestors. Despite health problems caused by Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease which affected her thyroid gland, Ronstadt was always determined to succeed in life, studying hard in school and attending the locally based University of Arizona. There she met guitarist Bob Kimmel, with whom she moved to Los Angeles. Together with songwriter Kenny Edwards they formed the Stone Poneys and toured California folk clubs, where Ronstadt's distinctive voice soon got them noticed. Their first hit came in 1967, with Different Drum, written by Michael Nesmith of The Monkees, and that same year they released an album.
In 1970 Ronstadt began to experiment with solo work, and four years later she scored a big hit with "You're No Good." This marked the start of a massively successful recording career which has included the release of more than forty albums. This fame also made an impact on her personal life as she struggled with stage fright and had difficulty coming to terms with her new status as a sex symbol, a status cemented by the publication of a series of photos by Annie Leibowitz of Rolling Stone magazine. The pressure only got worse when, in the late 70s, she dated California governor Jerry Brown, but she endeavored to remain in control, to keep in touch with her fans and to keep the focus on her music. This included work in a dazzling variety of styles, including collaborations with Aaron Neville and Nelson Riddle. Later, Ronstadt would work with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Though she wrote few songs of her own, those written by Ronstadt were popular and were sometimes covered by other artists, including Sarah Brightman and Trisha Yearwood. Her own most famous reinterpretation is probably Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou," but she has also adapted work by the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Everly Brothers, George Jones, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Little Feat, Neil Young, the Miracles, and Buddy Holly.
In 1980 Ronstadt moved into acting with a role in the Broadway version of Pirates of Penzance, and later in the Hollywood version alongside Kevin Kline, George Rose, Rex Smith, and Patricia Routledge. Seven years later, Ronstadt starred in Luis Valdez's Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution, with Clancy Brown and Evelyn Cisneros, and she also made regular appearances on television shows such as Saturday Night Live. Her celebrity status was enhanced by her long relationship with film director George Lucas. She later dated actor and director Albert Brooks, singer JD Souther, and comedian Steve Martin.
Despite her desire for privacy, Ronstadt has not always been able to resist being politically outspoken. In 2004 she was escorted out of the Aladdin Casino in Las Vegas after sparking protests when she praised Michael Moore and his film Fahrenheit 9/11. Yet this did nothing to damage sales of her records. In total, she has sold over three million records, with her Greatest Hits compilation going septuple platinum. She lives quietly in San Francisco with her adopted children, Mary and Carlos. YUDDY |
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