Music Hall to Be Renamed After Linda Ronstadt
These days we’re used to iconic music venues being renamed for some big company, a snack food brand, or some other unsavory development as they sell out to LiveNation or some other mega owner. But down in Tuscon, Arizona where Linda Ronstadt was born, raised, and launched her career, they’re honoring the iconic singer who had such a big impact on country music by renaming the city’s music hall after her.
The Tucson Music Hall in downtown Tucson on Church Street will be renamed for Linda Ronstadt on May 7th. Built in 1971, the 2,289-capacity venue is part of the greater Convention Center complex, and is in the National Register of Historic Places. “Linda Ronstadt is a beloved daughter of Tucson. It is time to honor her legacy and her ability to tell the story of our culture through music,” says Tucson mayor Regina Romero.
Though Linda Ronstadt’s music crossed over into pop and rock, few paid their country dues as much as Linda did early in her career, including her years in her first band the Stone Poneys, her debut solo album in 1969, Hand Sown…Home Grown, 1970’s Silk Purse that included cover songs of “Lovesick Blues” and “Mental Revenge,” and her 1972 self-titled album where she recorded “Crazy Arms” and “I Fall To Pieces.”
Even when Linda Ronstadt achieved her breakout pop rock success, she was always honest about the genre and approach of her music, and then returned to country in the groundbreaking Trio project with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, which released an iconic album in 1987, and a followup in 1999. It’s for these reasons Linda Ronstadt has been rumored to be considered for the Country Music Hall of Fame over the last few years.
But of course, no single genre can cage Linda Ronstadt. In fact, the Tucson Music Hall will be christened after Linda Ronstadt during the International Mariachi Conference Espectacular on May 7th. Along with country, Ronstadt was raised on Mariachi music, and later recorded her own Mariachi album and toured with a Mariachi band to pay homage to those roots.
Linda Ronstadt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014—a year after it was revealed that she was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, and had lost her legendary voice. She has since ceased performing publicly, but has toured in speaking engagements.
Linda Ronstadt will be in Tucson for the christening and the unveiling of the new sign at the Tucson Music Hall. “I am fortunate to be a member of a large musical family that has been associated with the City of Tucson since the 1800s. My entire career was informed and nurtured by the music we made as I was growing up here,” says Ronstadt.
March 26, 2022 @ 9:35 am
Great news. Possibly America’s most versatile popular female singer.
March 28, 2022 @ 5:32 am
Selena Gomez should play her in a Bio-pic, they look so.much alike
March 28, 2022 @ 5:45 am
America’s greatest karaoke singer
March 30, 2022 @ 7:50 am
????
March 26, 2022 @ 11:20 am
It is indeed a wonderful honor for Linda to get from her hometown. There really had never been any singer that could encompass so many genres and make her explorations look effortless, even if it drove some record industry executives a little bit crazy. And as her good pal Emmylou Harris said in the Grammy-winning 2019 documentary film LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE: “There’s just no one that ever has had or ever will have a voice like Linda’s”.
March 26, 2022 @ 1:17 pm
Kudos to Tucson for recognizing her.
I agree with Emmylou-she had the most beautiful female voice I think I have ever heard! It was especially highlighted on the big band albums with Nelson Riddle. A true treasure.
It is sad to think she and Julie Andrews both lost the wonderful gift of their voices.
March 27, 2022 @ 4:18 am
Agree on the beautiful voice and a very well deserved tribute to Linda but may I also add Karen Carpenter to the list of angelic voices too.
March 27, 2022 @ 10:41 am
Karen. Petersen.
March 28, 2022 @ 2:15 pm
LOVE ALL THINGS LINDA!
ESPECIALLY HER PORTRAYAL OF MABEL IN GILBERT & SULLIVANS “PIRATES OF PENZANCE” 1983 MOVIE STARING ALONGSIDE KEVIN KLINE, REX SMITH, ANGELA LANSBURY & GEORGE ROSE. IT’S 24 CARAT GOLD.
March 26, 2022 @ 3:41 pm
Greatest vocalist I’ve ever heard.
March 26, 2022 @ 5:20 pm
A very longvtime ago, Different Drum was my favorite song.
March 26, 2022 @ 11:17 pm
Still is a favorite of mine. She could capture and deliver a song better than anyone!
March 27, 2022 @ 7:50 am
Mine to wish I had a single of it I play it on youtube
March 26, 2022 @ 7:38 pm
So happy for her. She really deserved it.
March 27, 2022 @ 2:56 am
This woman is so heartwarming. She has soul. I really like her music. I’m really this woman fan . She has; A voice like a angel . I’m only 34 years old. The sound of this woman’s that’s music. Nah that’s what you called music! Today’s music ain’t nothing compared to this . Today’s music is whacked!????????
March 27, 2022 @ 4:35 am
Such an honor and so well deserved❤
March 27, 2022 @ 5:55 am
Well deserved!
March 27, 2022 @ 7:20 am
I have enjoyed and listened to Linda Ronstadt since returning from Vietnam and hearing Different Drums for the first time.
March 29, 2022 @ 6:32 am
Bruce,
Thank you for your service!
March 27, 2022 @ 9:17 am
Linda is awesome! She deserves all accolades that she receives!
March 27, 2022 @ 9:37 am
Thrilled to hear that wonderful news,from the early seventies I’ve been buying her outstanding albums.Her musical talent and versatility can’t be matched by anyone, male or female. Massive part of my life.
March 27, 2022 @ 9:42 am
Linda you’re simply one of kind.have enjoyed your music from the begining with the Stone Poneys.
March 27, 2022 @ 9:46 am
So we’ll deserved, what a talent,rock,country,ballads,you name it.Will never part with Linda’s albums,mainly purchased in the 70’s.
March 27, 2022 @ 11:04 am
I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen virtually all my favorite singers perform in person. There are two, however, that I really regret never seeing perform “live,” and Linda Ronstadt is one of those.
March 27, 2022 @ 11:36 am
Linda was a great idol for women to rise up into stardom & men loved her just as much. I am 73 & remember how the 60’s & 70’s rock n roll was amazing!
March 28, 2022 @ 4:30 pm
She and Emmylou Harris toured together supporting their Western Wall collaboration in 1999. I saw them and it was outstanding. Material from their album as well as lots of both of their solo work. They performed “Hello Stranger” together, which blew my mind.
March 27, 2022 @ 11:06 am
Karen. Petersen.
March 27, 2022 @ 11:48 am
Voice of an angel!
March 28, 2022 @ 12:53 am
She is our Lady Day Love you Linda
March 27, 2022 @ 1:18 pm
Along with Karla Bonoff, they sing the best soul wrenching songs from the girls point of view. So thankful my parents raised my sister and I on these beautiful singers, along w Jackson Browne, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Jimmy Buffet. Thanks Jack & Susan. I love you.
March 27, 2022 @ 2:54 pm
She’s a liberal trump hater
March 28, 2022 @ 8:37 pm
Why should I care about anyone’s political views? Seriously who gives a crap she’s got more talent than anyone who visits this site & should be honored for her achievements despite what her views are left or right!
March 28, 2022 @ 11:08 pm
good…shows she has comment sense
March 31, 2022 @ 6:04 am
…and this is relevant to the topic at hand in what way?
Also, in that regard a nod to an erudite discerning intellect….Brava Linda Ronstadt!
March 27, 2022 @ 5:44 pm
I still haven’t decided if I really think Trio>The Highwaymen, but they sure are better singers and the production is less dated! Love Linda forever, her two documentaries on HBO are seriously great, and obviously all her albums!
March 28, 2022 @ 2:33 am
‘Poor pitiful me’, full of passion and defiance, devoid of self-pity.
March 28, 2022 @ 6:59 am
Such a pure and versatile voice. The whole ‘Heart Like a Wheel’ album was an emotional sucker punch. Brilliant delivery.
March 28, 2022 @ 7:48 am
It is not all too uncommon to possess such a pleasing and natural sounding voice.
However Linda’s versatility — her ability to successfully venture into so many genres — that is a feat very, very, very few vocalists have ever achieved bar none.
Personally, I have seen relatively few performers remain as happy and feeling at home in a music venue throughout their careers as did Linda. Her genuine love for music (and most people) solidifies her deserved successes and accolades.
March 28, 2022 @ 8:33 pm
I love Linda Ronstadt best female singer period such a great voice, it’s ashame she lost it. I think the only other female singer that could challenge her for best voice was probably Patsy Cline in my opinion. I’m glad to see Linda get this honor such a great talent it’s a crying shame that she’s not in the Country Music Hall of Fame but that’s an organization that’s seems to like to pussy foot around look at how long it took Hank Jr. to be put in & he should’ve be in it years ago…of course I know he probably hurt himself at times but still yet. Hopefully Linda can make it in before she passes away.
March 28, 2022 @ 9:55 pm
Definitely one of the best singers I have ever heard. I didn’t think anyone could sing Blue Bayou as well as Roy Orbison but Linda’s version is the equal of the Big O!
It’s a tragedy for her and all her fans that she has lost that sublime singing voice she had.
March 29, 2022 @ 3:33 pm
Hands down , one of the best female voices of my generation! I saw her in concert 3 times during the 70’s and was not disappointed!
March 29, 2022 @ 6:55 pm
I don’t agree with her AT ALL on political matters but as a singer, she has no peers. Merle himself said the same thing.
March 29, 2022 @ 8:04 pm
Loved Linda when we saw her in Tucson Mariachi concerts could not been so proud of my heritage,my wife a michigander as her mother also enjoyed her music. I will always play her canciones
March 30, 2022 @ 11:05 am
….Is there a reason why ,we always have to be ” Renaming ” buildings, schools, etc….it’s ridiculous in my opinion; I will get flack for this, however. I’m ok with it…I’ve listened to her music since I was a freshman in H.S. and yes, she’s talented. So are MANY MANY others ,who don’t need “a something named after them ” to ensure a legacy of some kind. INMO, Miss Patsy Cline was someone who’s natural abilities will most likely not ever be matched…but that area ” isn’t her Home Town ” so it won’t be te- named for her. I’m in my late 60’s and have a right to my own thoughts just as the rest of commenter do.
March 30, 2022 @ 6:59 pm
Im a singer and have done many covers of Lindas so gs, she has been an amazing influences on my
vocal ability!
March 31, 2022 @ 1:51 pm
Linda Ronstadt does not have Parkinson’s disease. She has a condition called Supranuclear Palsy, which took away her ability to sing. That said, I think it is great that she is being honored by her home time. She has given us a huge amount of recorded music, all of it excellent. She recorded two CDs of Mexican music, “Canciones de mi padre” and “Mas Canciones de mi padre.”
March 31, 2022 @ 9:10 pm
To clarify–Linda was initially diagnosed in early 2013 with Parkinson’s, and, six years later, in the fall of 2019, re-diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a condition that is often mistaken for Parkinson’s. Because of this condition, Linda cannot do a whole lot of traveling outside of the Bay Area, where she lives, except for functions like this one that are personally and emotionally important to her. It is a condition that could exacerbate conditions like pneumonia and even COVID, which could end up causing her death. And at the age of 75, she has long since accepted her own mortality with the kind of stoicism that might really surprise a lot of people (IMHO).
April 1, 2022 @ 4:36 am
Linda was a fabulous person!
True story:
Friends and myself , 14 year olders, in 1967,, having some soda,across the street from the Cafe au Gogo, in New York when she was playing with Stone Poneys., Joined us for a few minutes sitting in table,chatting with these kids from Brooklyn. A Total Sweetie in her early Twenties from Tucson Arizona!
April 3, 2022 @ 9:27 am
Most other singers — male and female, and in any genre — can’t hold a candle to Linda. I’m particularly a fan of her 70s stuff. Was glad to hear that this theater will be named for her.
August 25, 2022 @ 4:58 am
I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease since 2010, by the VA. I found that none of the current medications worked (side effects for me). I currently take pramipexole dihydrochloride three times daily. It isn’t working well neither. I still have some tremors. Was on carbidopa levodopa but only lasted 90 minutes then wore off. Down side of carbidopa is after reaching max dosage it will no longer give relief, nothing was working for me and to make matters worse There has been little if any progress in finding a reliable medical treatment for Parkinson’s disease, I was approved by my neurologist to try feasible alternatives to my current prescribed medication in the hope of improving my quality of life. and I have to say this natural treatment is a 100% game changer for anyone with PD. It has been a complete turnaround with my balance, mobility, double vision, swollen feet, speech and tremors this is the best that I’ve felt in years. I have stop taking levodopa completely for several months, at least 7 months now, and still feel great.”