Linda Maria Ronstadt
(born July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona) is an American popular vocalist and entertainer who has earned multiple Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, a Tony Award and Golden Globe nominations. A singer-songwriter and record producer, she is better known as a definitive interpreter of songs. Ronstadt has recorded over 30 studio albums, and has made guest appearances on over 100 other albums. More importantly, outside of the studio and record charts, and on par with her male counterparts of the day, Ronstadt became the first solo female rock and roll artist in music history to have highly anticipated tours - coinciding with a string of highly successful albums, thus making her able to command sell-out concerts.
Ronstadt has recorded studio albums in many genres outside of the rock and roll field and is known throughout the music industry as one of the most versatile, durable, and commercially successful female singers who has ever recorded popular music. Branching out, she has recorded Traditional Pop, mariachi, jazz, folk, Broadway and Opera. However, her most commercially successful period was the 1970s and 1980s. As she moved on to other genres in the 1980s she maintained her consistent commercial success, and remained one of the best-selling female album artists of the 1980s. Ronstadt has 27 top 100 albums, 10 of which have reached top 10, and three of those hit the top of the Billboard 200 pop album chart. She also has 21 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, 10 of which have reached the top 10, three peaking at No. 2, and one No. 1 hit, You're No Good.
Personal life
In the 1970s her private life became very public, most notably, as publicity surrounding her life was propelled in the late 1970s by a relationship with then-Governor Jerry Brown of California, a Democratic presidential candidate. They shared a Newsweek magazine cover in April 1979. Ronstadt and Brown also took a trip to Africa which became fodder for paparazzi and the press.
In the mid-1980s, Ronstadt was engaged ("ring on the finger and all") to Star Wars director George Lucas.
In the early '80s, Ronstadt was criticized by some (mainly rock critics) for playing two concerts in what was then apartheid South Africa, at a time when artist like Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Stevie Wonder and Cher did so. Rolling Stone magazine covered the trip. The controversy eventually died out and apartheid ended.
Political controversy
Major criticism and praise involving Ronstadt's politics arose during a July 17, 2004 performance at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas. Towards the end of her performance, as she had done in performances across the country, Ronstadt spoke to the audience, praising Michael Moore's documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, a movie discussing the Iraq War, and dedicated the song "Desperado" to Michael Moore
Accounts of the crowd's initial reaction was mixed, with "half the crowd heartily applauding her praise for Moore,(and) the other half booing". However, the situation escalated into what Tyri Squyres, director of public relations at the Aladdin, described as a "mob scene.... It's amazing how ugly it got," with people walking out, tearing down posters, throwing drinks and demanding a refund.
Following the concert, news accounts reported that Ronstadt was "evicted" from the hotel premises. Ronstadt claimed she wasn't physically taken off stage but was ordered by Aladdin staff to wait to speak with Aladdin President Bill Timmins. She claims to have refused to wait and to have left, and later remarked that while Aladdin staff attempted to detain her, she thought, "Or they were going to make me start writing on a chalkboard or read me my Miranda rights?" Later she said, "Apparently..(the Aladdin)... called up one of the people that was traveling with us and went, 'She's talking about Michael Moore, and this is a place for entertainment, not politics'."
Ronstadt's comments, as well as some audience members and the hotel reactions, became a topic of discussion nationwide, as Timmons and Michael Moore all made public statements on the controversy.
The "Aladdin Incident" subsequently drew international headlines and public discourse on an entertainer's right to express a political opinion from the stage. The Aladdin Incident made the editorial section of the New York Times.
Following the incident, many friends of Ronstadt's, including The Eagles, immediately cancelled their engagement at the Aladdin. Ronstadt also received immediate telegrams of support from her rock 'n' roll friends around the world, such as The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, and Elton John.
Tags: Linda Ronstadt Rock Pop Blues Jazz Soul World Music
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