The era Linda Ronstadt thought had her greatest vocals: “My best singing”
With 11 Grammy awards, 24 studio albums, and a career collaborating with some of the biggest names in the business, Linda Ronstadt is a singer who needs no introduction. A life steeped in the warmth of family tradition, an unwavering love for music and a commitment to honouring her Mexican American heritage, Ronstadt’s musical journey has stood the test of time – her influence extending far beyond her voice.
Self-describing as a product of American radio in the 1950s and 60s, Ronstadt experimented with many different singing styles, many of which she discovered as a child. She told Uncut: “I have a little rule for myself: I never try to do any kind of music that I hadn’t heard at home by the age of ten… Mexican country music was always in my background and really informed my rock’n’roll singing style more than anything. Lola Beltrán was an incredible singer – to Mexico she was like what Édith Piaf is to France. She had that great huge belting style, and that’s what I copied as a child.”
Finding her artistic footing fairly quickly, the summer of 1966 welcomed her with open arms, and as a result, The Stone Poneys was born. Ronstadt was only a teenager, but the group went on to release three albums in a lightning 15-month period. Still contractually obligated to Capitol Records at the time, Ronstadt also launched her solo career with her debut album Hand Sown … Home Grown in 1969, an album that is often referred to as the first alternative country record by a female recording artist.
By the 1970s, Ronstadt became one of her era’s most successful and versatile singers. She emerged as the “Queen of Rock” by blending rock, folk, and country in a way that few artists were capable of. Albums like 1974’s Heart Like a Wheel and 1977’s Simple Dreams sealed her reputation as a chart-topping artist with hits like ‘You’re No Good’ and ‘Blue Bayou’, the latter of which drew on her bilingual roots and connected her with audiences far beyond mainstream pop.
Despite this, much like many great musicians, Ronstadt appeared to be her own worst critic. Even after proving incredible vocal ability over the years, she still believes that her voice was at its absolute best throughout the bulk of the 1980s and ’90s, long after her commercial success. Ronstadt admitted to her preference for her voice later on in her career, explaining: “I felt like I didn’t really start singing with my natural voice until 1980. And then after that, everything I sang, whether rock’n’roll, Mexican music or country music, I thought was better because I was singing with a natural voice instead of it being something I was trying to cobble together with something I’d heard or was trying to imitate.”
With very little to show for in terms of sales, her haunting 1993 album Winter Light has still been named as one of her favourite pieces of work. She said: “I did my best singing on Winter Light. It might not have been what everyone wanted to hear, but technically, I could sing better. And I had all my voice for Winter Light – after that, my voice declined.”
Now semi-retired due to a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, Ronstadt spoke openly about her time working with Anne Savoy on her final record Adieu False Heart. Although she has never ruled out a possible return to music, the 2006 album, in many ways, feels like a ‘goodbye’ in itself. She explained: “Adieu False Heart was the last recording I made before I got Parkinson’s. I was already struggling with it, but I didn’t know that’s what I had. I was having a really hard time singing, and I couldn’t figure out why… Out of all my work, I do have a real soft spot for this record.”
Dubbed as the interpreter of her times, her voice remains without question a profound bridge between people and cultures not only in America, but around the world.
