Linda Ronstadt, one of the most popular and versatile artists of the Rock & Roll era, has yet to hear from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
(No. 17 in a continuing series on artists who should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but are not)
By Phill Marder
She has been called the “Queen of Rock.“
She has been called “The First Lady Of Rock.“
She has earned 11 Grammys, two Academy Of Country Music awards, an Emmy, an American Latino Media Arts award and she has received Tony and Golden Globe nominations.
She ranked No. 1 female singles seller in 1975 and 1977.
Combining albums and singles, she is one of the highest ranking artists in the history of recorded music.
All told, she has posted 38 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the top 10 on 10 different occasions, No. 2 three times and the top spot once. On the Billboard top album charts, she has 36 entries, including 10 that reached the top 10 and three that hit No. 1.
She has reached the UK top 40 with five albums and three singles, including a No. 2 single in 1989.
Between 1969 and 1994 she has had 20 singles reach the Canadian top 40, including two that peaked at No. 2 and two that reached No. 1, and nine top 20 LPs, including the “Trio” album, which hit No. 4, and “Simple Dreams,” which topped the Canadian charts.
On the Country charts, she has had solo albums and a single reach No. 1 in addition to a No. 1 collaboration with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.
She is considered the first female solo artist popular enough to pack large concert arenas.
She was named top female artist of the 70s by Cash Box magazine.
She was the first female to have three consecutive platinum albums and her “Living In The USA” became the first album to ship double platinum. In addition, her “Canciones De Mi Padre” is the best selling non-English language album in United States history.
YET SHE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO GET EVEN A NOMINATION FROM THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME!!!
This has to be some kind of sick joke.
She is, of course, Linda Ronstadt.
Linda Ronstadt is a great singer. Pitch perfect, she lets the song be the avenue of pleasure, enhancing it not swamping it. Whitney Houston once bragged how she sang the *#$! out of “I Will Always Love You.” She did. That’s why Ronstadt’s version is so much better. She showed off the song, not how many notes she can hit.
There’s no better ballad singer than Linda Ronstadt and she has more than held her own on hard rocking material, from classic to punk. In addition, Ronstadt has been a major force in Country music and she also has recorded albums of standards, Mexican favorites, rock classics as lullabies, cajun and jazz offerings and Christmas favorites.
With that said, it’s a puzzle that Ronstadt has been ignored so far, though maybe her abandonment of Rock has a lot to do with it as she spread her wings to embrace recordings outside the world of Rock. It’s Ironic that artists who maintain the status quo are criticized for not growing musically, while those who do branch out are criticized for abandoning Rock.
Still, from 1967 when she first broke onto the scene with The Stone Poneys until 1983 when she began to branch out with Nelson Riddle, Ronstadt fairly dominated the charts with tasteful covers of everyone from Betty Everett to Billy Joe Royal. To further add to her credentials, Ronstadt sang backup on Neil Young’s two biggest hits, “Heart Of Gold” and “Old Man,” Andrew Gold’s No. 7 “Lonely Boy,” and Warren Zevon’s “Excitable Boy” and many others. And, in 1971, her touring band was Bernie Leadon, Glen Frey, Randy Meisner and Don Henley, who did fairly well as The Eagles after polishing their chops behind Ronstadt.
Perhaps Ronstadt has been shunned because she’s been outspoken on different topics. For instance, take this quote on the Ramones: “I couldn’t understand the words. I like power but it has to have some intelligence. This was so constricted I would call it hemorrhoid music.“
The Ramones are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, by the way.
“I didn’t set out to be a star, said Ronstadt. “I don’t think of myself as a star. I set out to become a singer. I would have sung no matter what. I finally learned how to sing. It’s too bad I had to do all my learning in public.”
On critics, Ronstadt has said, “I’m tired of being victimized by people who are dedicated to a snappy phrase.”
Well, I’m not dedicated to a snappy phrase. I just like music. And, obviously, I’m not alone in my admiration for Ronstadt. It’s time for those responsible for who gets nominated and who gets inducted to start studying those who are eligible. The joke has worn very, very thin.
Simply the BEST female singer….ever!
The Rock Hall is a joke.
Great article!! I emailed the folks at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame asking this same question last year when they had the “WOMEN of Rock and Roll” retrospective. Where was Linda Ronstadt? I saw no mention of her in their marketing of this “historical event”.
The honor of being inducted is long overdue.
The Rock and Hall of Fame is a sick Joke. they did the same thing to Carly Simon!!
@Tony: Deborah Harry (Blondie) is in there for being a trailblazer, as is Patti Smith and several other ladies.
Linda Ronstadt is NONE of these.
Dear Fantomex – I’m not sure just what trails Patti Smith blazed, but if I want to listen to trailblazers I’ll put on “Lewis & Clark’s Greatest Hits” or “The Best Of Christopher Columbus.” If I want to listen to great music sung by a truly great singer, I’ll put on anything by Linda Ronstadt – Phill
Linda will always be the queen of ALL Rockers. She transports one to a place we’ve never been before — one which transcends pain and sorrow and leaves us in a state of nervana.
I love Linda Ronstadt! I grew up on her music. She’s a real singer and can sing anything! Why she’s not in the Hall of Fame is beyond me. If anyone should be there, she should!!!!
Anybody who lived through the 70s and 80s knows what a joke it is that she has been her omitted from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was simply the best and the most successful for a good 15 years and continued branching out into her 60s. Her voice and music are pretty much the template for what became modern day country music. And anybody who has ever seen her live can attest to the unbelievable power and beauty of her voice and her amazing musicianship. Nobody even came close. Being left out of a tribute to the women in rock says more about the idiots who put it together than about Linda. They are trying to rewrite history. By ignoring people like Ronstadt the Hall of Fame is destroying its own credibility. She defined a decade. Isn’t that really the definition of what belongs in a Hall of Fame?
The omission of Linda Ronstadt from the Rock and Roll Hall of fame lessens the credibility of that establishment as an authority on Rock and Roll. Give me a break!
Linda Ronstadt’s achievements and legacy in music (not just rock and roll) is well documented and the many lives that she has touched with one of the most distinctive and emotional voices ever heard. Linda’s musical career doesn’t need to be “justified” by induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We all need to stop protesting to the cynical mob who determines who makes it to the “Hall” and start celebrating the woman and music that we all love.
I cannot stand Linda Ronstadt. I don’t really like her music, and I especially do not like the way that she brings her politics in your face if you are at her show (She has said something like “If there are any Republicans in the Audience You can leave right now”) So that being said, even though I do not like her music, there is no doubt that she is an extreme talent, and her achievements are way more than enough to make the Rock Hall. It seems that they are playing politics now. So if the OJ Simpson can be in the NFL hall of fame, it’s ridiculous that Linda Ronstadt is not in the Rock Hall of Fame.
Linda Ronstadt should be inducted to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has trancended all Musical Genres. I would have liked to see her try her hand at progressive rock. It would have been cool to see her interpret a Yes Song.
Linda Ronstadt paved the way for female solo artists in the 60′s. Hey the woman has earned 11 Grammys! Some who have been inducted to the R&R Hall have never won any Grammys, like Stevie Nicks, for example, she has never won a single Grammy award for her solo career, only with Fleetwood Mac, yet she has been inducted…shows what poor taste in music the people who give out these awards have, as far as I’m concerned, they don’t know a good singer when they hear one! I’ve seen Linda in concert a couple of times and she can blow out the windows with just her voice and a piano! Others, like Ms. Nicks, rely on their band and back up singers to make them sound good. Leaving out someone like Linda Ronstadt off a Rock and Roll “Who’s Who” list proves just how meaningless being inducted into their (so called) Hall of Fame really is.
I also agree that it is a travesty that Linda Ronstadt has not been inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was, in fact, a trailblazer. She was the first female power vocalist. She led the way for the power vocalists of the 80s. The Whitney Houstons, et al, followed and got all the attention but they walked in Linda’s footsteps, but without the finesse. Linda was not all about just the power. And Linda was fortunate to come along in a time when audiences were happy to listen to a singer who SANG. We didn’t come to watch a striptease and light shows and the other distractions. She sang in a time before the computer enhancements. When she sang, it was all her — a voice that was pure and strong. She was emotional, interpretive and powerful. And she moved across the genres: country, folk, rock, pop, alternative, jazz, American standards, Latin — she does it all. Finally, she sang for an audience that was comfortable with itself as adults. As she has aged and grown, we have grown with her. She took us all on her journey and expanded our understanding of the world of music. She introduced us to new genres that many of us may never have experienced. In that capacity she brought us all together in new ways. That’s trailblazing in the best sense of the word.
P.S. I don’t care for her politics, either. But the induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is recognition of her talent and professional achievement. The fact is most musicians are pretty “out there” anyway and tend to be pretty liberal. In that sense, Linda Ronstadt’s not much different than the rest of them. But that’s no reason to deny her what she’s earned for a lifetime of hard work and genuine talent. She deserves this and the HoF needs to know this.
I imagine that if she died of an overdose she would be a shoo-in.
Come on guys, time to give Linds her well deserved do. She added do much to her days in the limrlight.if mick and the boys belong so does zlinds
I just don’t see it, and I think I never will. She is a commercially successful artist, maybe not to Carole King or Whitney Houston levels, but successful. But beyond that there really isn’t much else. Of course there are instances when someone is so commercially successful that it overshadows everything else (Houston may be a good example again), but that really doesn’t apply to Ronstadt. She was not really the first female rock superstar, a distinction that goes to Janis Joplin. (No one can honestly call her music edgy). She cannot really be called a pioneer (overlooking a bevy of female pop singers from that era like Cher and the so-called 1960s “girl” groups, you had Joplin and Slick and bands like Fanny and Smith and later Suzi Quatro. The Carpenters hit in 1970. Joplin and King both hit multi-platinum status in 71/72. Oliver Newton John had hit the charts in 1974. Fleetwood Mac with Stevie Nicks emerged in 1975 and Heart a year later. (Ronstadt’s own commercial breakthrough came in 1975 with Heart Like A Wheel).
Really what you are left with an artist who achieved commercial success in the mid 70s singing mainly covers (she had virtually no song writing credits on her albums and none of note and no she didn’t have the historic or cultural impact of Elvis) and who was thoroughly mainstream and middle of the road. Think Celine Dion, albeit without the same level of album sales. If you factor in things like artistic merit, creativity, historical/cultural impact (despite her success she really did not leave any really imprint of subsequent musical or stylistic trends), innovation both musically and in terms of the image she presented, etc., she is in my humble opinion lacking. Yes she a good voice. (Maybe not on the level of Judith Durham or Karen Carpenter, but certainly good enough to carry her career.) And yes she had a long, successful career. But unless the R&RHF simply takes every commercially successful artist without critically considering other factors, there are legitimate reasons she has never been nominated. There are certainly artists who have yet to be inducted that I would place ahead of her. (e.g. Chicago).
Oh Dog, you’re showing your age. Joplin the first female Rock superstar? What about Connie Francis and Brenda Lee? What about Dionne Warwick and one you mentioned, Cher? And what about Aretha?
I did mention girl groups and female pop singers. Was Connie Francis pop? Were the Shangri-Las? Or the Supremes and Shirelles R&B?
Anyway, the argument is always that Ronstadt was allegedly the first female rock “superstar”, that she played arenas as opposed to halls, that others had hits but she allegedly took it to another level, etc. By that criteria I would definitely go with Joplin. It is simply an exaggerated claim that is repeated over and over again by her fans.
The only reason I commented here is because I noticed that this wsa the most popular story on the site, which verifies my unscientific observation that Ronstadt’s fans are the most vocal of all allegedly snubbed artists. I have nothing against her, but I just don’t think her exclusion is such a travesty.
No – Take it from someone who was there. Connie Francis was Rock. And I’m showing my age…I forgot Motown’s first superstar…Mary Wells
It seems that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has serious issues with artists that were capable to reinvent themselves throughout their careers? I would think they would recognize how versatile these artists were and still are in many cases. Linda, Connie Francis, Paul Anka are just three perfect examples. Is it only me that noticed it or am I just dreaming it?
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To Astrodog: Can you give me the reason why Donna Love was inducted into the RRHoF? Find me what this woman has done that is worthy of that honour? There are some female artists of her era that had a lot more impact and influence in the music industry than her. So far I found NOTHING that makes her more qualified than Linda Ronstadt or Connie Francis, just to name these two. Also, why using the word FAME if many of the FAMOUS artists don’t qualify. I think the RRHoF is a travesty and this is why I believe a Music Hall of Fame, which should be nothing like the RRHoF, is needed. We need to recognize the popular artists as much as the influential ones. It’s that simple to me!
Sylvain means Darlene Love
I stopped trying to decipher why certain acts get inducted while others don’t long ago. It’s not the most consistent process. I would guess that it has something to do with Love’s recording career going back to the 1950s, but quite a few acts not in the R&RHF can make that claim.
The issue is why Ronstadt should be inducted and why her exclusion is unjustified. If she wasn’t really a pioneer and wasn’t really the first female rock superstar (be it Francis, Joplin or whomever) and didn’t write her own material and was not the greatest female vocalist of all time (she was a good one undoubtedly) and didn’t really do anything new or innovative or influential, then you are left with a commercially successful artist for whom there is a case for and against. I just humbly think there are more deserving artists who don’t get the vocal support but who have a better claim. That said, if Ronstadt eventually gets inducted, so be it. But to me, trying to be objective, her exclusion is not the earth shattering travesty that is often suggested.
Regardless of what astrodog says, it is obvious he does not like Ronstadt at all. Some of his facts are wrong. Commercially, she had much more of an impact than Carole King, who is mainly remembered vocally for one huge album. RIAA sales figures verify this. She was the most successful female artist of her era. Granted, in the Celine/Mariah era, sales were bigger. Is it really fair to compare Connie Francis to Ronstadt to Celine? Linda did reach a level of sustained success that had eluded all female artists before her except Streisand, who I do not consider a rock singer.
Olivia Newton-John was not a rock artist in the same sense as Linda Ronstadt. Having seen them both in concert, Olivia would not be a candidate for the RRHoF. If you think Linda is not in the same class vocally as Karen Carpenter, I can only assume you are not very familiar with her work at all other than the hits. It is arguable if she was the “first” female rock superstar. So what? Is there only a slot for the first one. If you say she was never innovative, you are FOS. Commercial success Linda had, but the Hall of Fame has established that is not even a consideration, which is obvious from some of the inductees, so why discuss her platinum collection? Writing her own material does not seem to matter for many of the female artists who have already been inducted, so why should that exclude Ronstadt? I am just curious, astrodog, if you have commented on any of the other artists in this series that you find to be “meh” or do you just have a problem with Ronstadt?
When you really get down to it, there is a definite dearth of women in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. Stevie Nicks isn’t in there for her solo work (only as a member of Fleetwood Mac); Pat Benatar isn’t either; and Heart, while they were considered just this year, were suspiciously axed from induction at the last minute. But Linda’s being shut out is really quite egregious, when you consider the scope of what she has done just in rock alone. Not only has she done rock and roll itself, but she has also done all the various different styles that make up rock and roll to begin with: jazz; blues; R&B; gospel; folk; bluegrass; pop; and country.
While many of her hits were reworkings of established rock, R&B, and country songs from the 1950s and 1960s, she also helped to bring a lot of great contemporary songwriters like J.D. Souther, Warren Zevon, Karla Bonoff, and others to prominence. And when one considers the influence she has had on other female singers that have been inspired by her–everyone from Nicolette Larson, Jennifer Warnes, and Rosanne Cash, to Trisha Yearwood, Sheryl Crow, and Tift Merritt, the statistics literally SCREAM for her induction. Jann Wenner and his merry band really do need to grow up out of whatever male testosterone hangups they have and induct Linda.
I rest my case. The most vocal fanbase of all allegedly snubbed artists. My only issue with her is I don’t think she’s worthy. Plain and simple. I have commented other artists. Also there really wasn’t much difference between Olivia Newton John and Ronstadt in the 70s. If Ronstadt was rock at all, it was not exactly edgy or threatening. Like I said, there is a case for and against, but most importantly there are more worthy candidates ahead of her.
Thank God you’ve rested your case. I thought you always liked to get in the “last word.” I did not realize that only edgy or threatening artists qualified for the hall of fame. Looks like a lot of people who only had talent need to be thrown out.
Partridge is right, Astrodog is FOS. The woman called the “Queen of Rock” for a decade, on the cover of the Rolling Stone, how many times? At least four that I bought myself, Grammy awards in three decades, not in the Rock Hall of Fame? Linda is not the only deserving artist not in this Wiener-List. If the list were ordered, you might argue whether she should be ahead or behind Stevie Ray Vaughn, but the fact that neither is in the Hall is what makes the RRHOF such a joke. It’s like not giving Cary Grant a Hollywood Star, everyone knows he’s a movie star, and everyone knows Linda was a Rock superstar. You have to have your dog’s ass in the stars to try to defend this omission.
Linda Ronstadt is hands down the best Interpretational singer out there! She is long overdue to her induction into the Hall Of Fame! Makes one question the integrity of the nomination process… Get with it people!
Rolling Stone Magazine holds giant pressure who gets into the HOF. Ronstadt has blown off JW in decades earlier, this is his getting back. Moody Blues have no label backing, their years on a clown label (Deram) and a rarely making money Threshold label is no way to the HOF as well as JW in hate mode with them (no interviews in prime years). Both will never get in.
Linda crossed so many genres together like rock, r&b, country, pop. This was similar to what Elvis was doing. When I listen to “Poor Pitiful Me” and “It’s so Easy To Fall In Love”, chills go down my back. Great performer and artist. She should be in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Linda Ronstadt in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame….that’s a no brainer. What’s wrong with those dingbats?
I think if you have versatility and can do other music in addition to rock, the RRHOF considers that as a negative. Ronstadt did some fine rock music- classics, by herself and with the Stone Ponies. She is a talented vocalist. She also did Hispanic music, country, and Big Band, This I believe knocked her out of the Hall- same should be said for Connie Francis, who should also be in the Hall, but Connie also was an eclectic vocalist who had no problem singing a Fats Domino, Hank Williams or Johnny Mercer song….
She cannot really be called a pioneer (overlooking a bevy of female pop singers from that era like Cher and the so-called 1960s “girl” groups,
This is just phenomenally stupid.
There are literally dozens upon dozens of country singers who either openly state that she was an influence on them or owe their very careers to Ronstadt’s work in the 70s. Or both. Trisha Yearwood has outright stated that Linda Ronstadt is the greatest influence on her career, and paved the way for her. I’ll take Trisha Yearwood’s word over Ronstadt’s influence over a pissant like yours, any day.
I hear Linda Ronstadt dozens of times when I have to listen to country music at work. Nearly ever country female vocalist who’s had a recording contract since the 80s has obviously “borrowed” from her stylings.
Modern country music would not exist without Linda Ronstadt’s phenomenal work from the 60s and 70s, or the folk-rock pioneer sounds of The Eagles or Jackson Browne. The latter two are in the HoF, and the Eagles just weren’t that wonderful, truth be told. They aren’t remotely as good as Linda Ronstadt’s voice.
Why isn’t Linda Ronstadt in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame? All the other Southern California and similar classic rock stars are – Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, CSNY, James Taylor, Jackson Brown, Joni Mitchell, etc…
One of the arguments has been that she didn’t write her own music or music made popular by other singers. Well, then the majority of rock ‘n roll inductees shouldn’t have been inducted because many of them sang and didn’t write. Many of the greatest singers that Ronstadt’s a peer of, like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston et al, are not considered negatively just because they weren’t songwriters or frequently sang music that was previously made popular before they sang them. Other artist who have had hits with cover songs or with music they didn’t write themselves who aren’t criticized – The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Robert Plant, The Pretenders, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, James Taylor, Guns ‘n Roses, Aretha Franklin, The Eagles, U2, etc…, and yet some of these artists have already been inducted. And not all of Ronstadt’s hit songs were hit songs by previous artist. Her remakes were as good as, better, or close to being as good as the originals.
And yes, Linda was a folk, country, pop, Mexican, light operetta singer. Nut she is also a rocker. She was The Queen of Rock ‘n Roll hands down throughout the entire 1970s. Janice Joplin, Grace Slick and Tina Turner were in the 1960s, and Stevie Nicks, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Heart, Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry were in the late 1970s and 1980s, after Linda paved the way. Ronstadt was the first solo female artist to consistently sell out tours performing in arenas and stadiums. It wasn’t Ronstadt’s peers Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Carole King, Heart, or pop superstars Barbra Streisand, Olivia Newton-John, Donn Summer or Diana Ross.
The critics and public have always held her to a different standard than other artists, and unfairly. In the early 1980s, Ronstadt was criticized by some (mainly rock critics) for playing two concerts, as a replacement for Frank Sinatra, inSouth Africa under apartheid, at a time when Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, Tina Turner, Sinatra, Shirley Bassey and Cher were also performing there. Yet no one slammed those artists for singing in So. Africa.
And she’s been criticized for being a dilletante and switching music genres and images (successfully), but when David Bowie, Madonna, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Blondie, et al do it, they are complimented.
So getting back to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame snub, So what’s the holdup? I don’t get it.
And by the way, Heart, Pat Benatar, Joan and Stevie Nicks (solo artist), Donna Summer, Bette Midler, Cher, Carole King (she is only in as a songwriter not a singer), and Carly Simon are still not in the Hall of Fame either, although Aretha Franklin, Madonna and Abba are (all great artists, but not rockers).
“ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME”?? -give me a break!!