The singer Linda Ronstadt said was “better than any of us”
Linda Ronstadt may have a reputation as someone hard to please, but in reality, she just appreciates authenticity and talent more than most of her peers. Or anyone else in the current music landscape, for that matter.
This has been something she’s carried with her since before moving even to Los Angeles – mainly, it was the sounds of her Mexican heritage and folk music that inspired her growing up, and so once she’d arrived in the counterculture scene, she already knew the music she loved and appreciated the most. Which is also a reason why she was excited by the Ash Grove, where “all the good folk music was”.
Ronstadt never came with an ego; in fact, it was quite the opposite, especially when she finally made it among countless other defining acts in the scene. At the Ash Grove, she remembered feeling “humbled” because of all the talent she experienced, but The Troubadour was when things really shifted for her, as it was the place where she felt her music and creative offering could really come alive.
However, being a woman with Mexican ancestry from Tucson, Arizona, Ronstadt’s experience rising as one of the scene’s most significant voices was different from most of those around her. After all, Ronstadt once admitted that she didn’t know any other female singers until she met Emmylou Harris and Maria Muldaur, before which she tried to gain credibility by working with “the best musicians she could afford”.
Women in music have always had to fight harder to earn respect, especially those like Ronstadt who made it clear from the beginning that she wasn’t in it to play any games or solely to achieve commercial success. Those types of musicians are often seen as outliers, and while that was the case for Ronstadt, her authenticity and emotional honesty ultimately paved the way for her becoming an era-defining legend.
There have been countless other women who have taken a similar path in music history, shifting the tide even if they came from entirely different genres or backgrounds from Ronstadt. Artists like Amy Winehouse, for instance, also carried that same sort of creative independence while borrowing from other sounds and styles to create something fresh and new, creating a space where she could stay true to herself while rehashing old flames.
And like Ronstadt, Winehouse only cared to follow trends and aesthetics that genuinely excited her, and wasn’t afraid to voice her experiences in her music, no matter how messy they were. There’s probably also a reason why that famous remix of Ronstadt’s ‘You’re No Good’ and Winehouse’s ‘You Know I’m No Good’ works so well, and it’s more than just the simple fact that the music fits.
In fact, Winehouse’s talent and general ethos are traits that Ronstadt greatly appreciated, and also something that she viewed as entirely unique, particularly in the current landscape. When she was once asked by Music Radar whether there were any current singers she liked, she said that she enjoyed Adele, but that Winehouse “was better than any of us”.
Ronstadt has likely seen many stars come and go during her time, which is also why her praise for Winehouse is especially telling. There were many major talents she could have chosen from, but her love for Winehouse clearly proved that, among the rest, she was the only one who stood out as someone who shared her appreciation for authenticity in ways no one else could.
