The mystical singer Linda Ronstadt became enchanted by: “She was so magical”
Linda Ronstadt has always been a mentor. Even in her early days, as she worked to establish and discover her own artistry, she sought to support and nurture others, learning the power of self-worth from those who had mastered it before. As Glenn Frey once said, “Linda was our muse and a brave artist who followed her instincts.”
As one of the most impressive industry veterans, Ronstadt didn’t just gain recognition for her revolutionary approach to genre-blending; it was also a result of her immense dignity and gratitude for the burst of talent around her. Even as she witnessed Frey and Don Henley start what would become the next chapter for rock, all she gave was her unconditional support.
Rising to fame in the 1970s, it could have been just as easy for Ronstadt to follow the herd, taking advice and tricks from others and leaning more towards commercialism when it came to expectation. However, she learned artistic gratitude from both originators and her contemporaries and committed herself to authenticity for the rest of her career. This, plus her natural ability to create and record great music, earned her the moniker “the first lady of country rock.”
Using names like Billie Holiday as a guiding force, Ronstadt prioritised uncertainty, charging forward with more confidence against a saturated and male-dominated industry. People like Holiday were like lightning in a bottle to Ronstadt, who, along with voices like Frank Sinatra, enabled her to explore her own version of music, namely blending delicacy with traditional tropes. As she later reflected: “She made music so intimate. She and Frank Sinatra are the two biggest influences on popular singing in the 20th century. I tried to do what they did.”
From the moment she started finding her voice to becoming an established artist, Ronstadt also felt influenced by names like Randy Newman and Warren Zevon, particularly how the latter became an unavoidable defining voice in music despite his oftentimes invisibility and inclusiveness. Still, in Ronstadt’s view, the art spoke for itself, and what Zevon did in the studio was pure magic.
However, one voice that enchanted her from the off was Chavela Vargas, who, in her mind, had the power to reimagine a song with loyalty to the original and newfound freshness, bringing new layers to compositions that were already deeply emotional. As she explained to Parade: “If I had heard Chavela Vargas sing this ranchera song or anything else when I was growing up, I would have changed my whole singing style.”
She added: “Songwriters loved her because she was so musical—she could interpret a song just as they had intended it, with its full emotional reading. Her version of this sorrowful song is unbeatable. She owns it.”
At the time, Ronstadt was discussing ‘Paloma Negra’, and how hearing Vargas even earlier would have likely altered her entire approach to singing. However, she no doubt discovered her at precisely the right time and allowed her enchantment to guide her own expression, particularly when it came to staking her claim on pre-established musical gems.
