“Never go into a studio again”: The song that forced Linda Ronstadt retire
Most artists should get the chance to call their own shots when it comes to bowing out. Even though there have been countless bands that have stayed way too long at the party and come back to collect a paycheque, there are others who seem to get better every time they go back to the studio, constantly innovating and changing up their sound to reflect where they are in the moment.
But despite having one of the best voices in the country rock scene, Linda Ronstadt probably didn’t want her lasting legacy to be her retiring by force.
Because as much as people like the idea of going on forever, they have to come to terms with age every now and again. No one can be expected to keep their voice in the same shape they were in their 20s, and some of the best singers in the genre, like Paul McCartney, have kept things interesting by constantly switching up their style to reflect where they are.
Then again, Ronstadt’s problem may have been setting the bar too high when she first started. Some of her best moments featured her belting out the best songs that she knew how, and when someone puts out something that tugs on the heartstrings the same way that ‘When Will I Be Loved’ did, it’s hard to go back and make something that sounds too safe.
There’s also a legacy that comes with the California rock scene. While not every band was known to have the best voice, having contemporaries in Eagles and Crosby, Stills, and Nash is bound to put a mantle of pressure on someone like Ronstadt, especially since she helped people like Don Henley and Glenn Frey turn into the vocal powerhouses that they were when gigging night after night.
That kind of standard doesn’t just follow you around in the studio either. Once audiences have heard you hit those heights, they expect it every single time, no matter how many years have passed or how much the voice itself might have changed along the way.
And for a singer like Ronstadt, whose entire appeal was built on that sheer power and clarity, there’s no real way to fake it when things start to slip. You either meet that expectation, or you step aside before anyone else has the chance to notice.
Once she hit the 2010s, though, the writing was on the wall for her. Despite still taking care of her voice over the years, Ronstadt had decided to leave performances like ‘You’re No Good’ in the past, and even when she sang the song ‘All I Know’ with Jimmy Webb for the album Just Across the River in 2010, she figured that there was no point in continuing on much longer.
Even if Ronstadt was still phenomenal behind a microphone, her retirement on this album after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease was a case of her being realistic, saying, “It took me all day to put it on tape. I kept having trouble with pitch. We sounded good together, but I knew it was time to never ever go into a recording studio again. It was hard. It was something I could do easily when I was healthy.”
Granted, it’s not like she was phoning it in on the record, either. Hearing her sing these classics is still beautiful to listen to, and considering the strain that some of her contemporaries had put on their voices, this record seems to fit right next to Eagles’ Long Road Out of Eden as a great way for her to wrap up her career.
It might be sad knowing that fans will never get to hear her live again, but Ronstadt was a singer who deserved to go out on her own terms. And while All I Know might not be the most diverse album in her catalogue, it serves as a great bookend for her career after getting her start in The Stone Poneys.
