Linda Ronstadt Profile

Linda Ronstadt is an American Emmy-Award-Winning Singer/Actress who has performed and recorded in diverse genres of music. These include country, light opera, rock, Latin, and the Great American Songbook. She began her professional singing career at the age of 14. Then, she formed a folk trio with her brother Peter and sister Gretchen.

Linda Ronstadt Age/How old is Linda Ronstadt?

Ronstadt was born on July 15, 1946, in Tucson, Arizona, United States. She is therefore 77 years old as of 2023.

Linda Ronstadt Height

She stands at an approximate height of 5 feet 7 inches.

Linda Ronstadt Family

Ronstadt was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, United States to his loving and caring parents. She was raised in a family of four children and was the third born in her family. Her father, Gilbert Ronstadt who was born in the year 1911 and passed away in 1995, was a prosperous machinery merchant who ran the F. Ronstadt Co. Her mother, Ruth Mary (née Copeman) Ronstadt, on the other hand, was born in 1914 and passed away in 1982 and was a homemaker.

She was raised on her family’s 10-acre(4 hectares(ha) ranch alongside her siblings, Peter. Peter was serving as Tucson’s Chief of Police for ten years between 1981 and 1991. She was also raised alongside Michael and Gretchen. Her family was featured in the Family Circle magazine in 1953.

Her father came from a pioneering Arizona ranching family and was of Mexican descent with a German male ancestor. The family’s influence on and contributions to Arizona’s history which include wagon making, pharmacies, commerce, and music are documented in the library of the University of Arizona.

Linda’s great-grandfather, the engineer Friedrich August Ronstadt (who went by Federico Augusto Ronstadt), immigrated first to Sonora, Mexico. He later moved to the Southwest (then a part of Mexico) in the 1840s from Hanover, Germany.

His grandfather went on to marry a Mexican citizen, and eventually settled in Tucson. Back in the year 1991, the City of Tucson opened its Central transit terminal on March 16th. The terminal was dedicated to Linda’s grandfather, Federico José María Ronstadt, a local pioneer businessman. He was a wagon maker whose early contribution to the city’s mobility included six-mule-drawn streetcars delivered between 1903 and 1904.

Her mother, Ruth Mary who was of German, English, and Dutch ancestry was raised in Flint, Michigan. Ruth’s father, Lloyd Groff Copeman, a prolific inventor and holder of nearly 700 patents, invented an early form of the electric toaster. Asides from this, he invented the first electric stove, many refrigerator devices, the grease gun, and an early form of the microwave oven. He was able to earn millions of dollars in royalties for his flexible rubber ice cube tray.

Linda Ronstadt Husband/Children

Ronstadt was previously dating Jerry Brown. Back in the mid-1970s, is when her private life became increasingly public. The publicity was associated with his relationship with then-Governor of California, Jerry Brown who was a Democratic presidential candidate. They later shared a Newsweek magazine cover in the month of April 1979 as well as the covers of US Weekly and People Magazine.

Later on in the year 1983, he dated comedian Jim Carrey for about eight months. Between 1983 and 1988, he was engaged to Star Wars director, George Lucas. Back in the month of December 1990, she adopted an infant daughter, Mary Clementine Ronstadt. Back in the year 1994, she adopted a baby boy, Carlos Ronstadt. She has, however, never been married.

When speaking of finding an acceptable mate, the year 1974 saw him tell Peter Knobler in Crawdaddy that he is really kind but isn’t inspired musically. She stated that she needed a person that can stand her and is inspired musically. Later on, after living in Los Angeles for about 30 years, she moved to San Francisco because she said she never felt at home in Southern California.

She states that Los Angeles became too enclosed and she couldn’t breathe the air as she didn’t want to drive on the freeways to get to the studio. Linda didn’t want to embrace the values that have been so completely embraced by the city.

Back in the year 1997, she sold her home in San Francisco and moved to her hometown in Tucson, Arizona in order to raise her two children. She then moved back to San Francisco while she was continuing to maintain her home in Tucson.

Linda Ronstadt’s Net Worth

Ronstadt has an estimated net worth of between $130 Million which she has earned through her successful career as a singer.

Linda Ronstadt Career

Ronstadt is a retired American singer who sang and performed in diverse genres of music. Throughout her entire career, she has released about 24 studio albums and 15 compilations or greatest hits albums. Ronstadt has charted 36 US Billboard Hot 100 singles. Among the singles, 21 reached the top 40, ten reached the top 10, and one titled, You’re No Good, was number one.

Asides from this, she has charted in the UK as two of her duets, “Somewhere Out There” with James Ingram and “Don’t Know Much” with Aaron Neville, peaked at numbers 8 and 2 respectively. The single titled “Blue Bayou” reached number 35 on the UK Singles charts. Linda has also charted ten top-10 albums, 36 albums, and three number-1 albums on the US Billboard Pop Album Chart.

Ronstadt has additionally collaborated with artists in diverse genres which include Rosemary Clooney, Philip Glass, Paul Simon, Dolly Parton, and Billy Eckstine. This is in addition to collaborating with Bette Midler, Carla Bley (Escalator Over the Hill), Frank Zappa, Flaco Jiménez, and Emmylou Harris. Ronstadt also worked with Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash, Warren Zevon, Nelson Riddle, Neil Young, and Earl Scruggs.

Linda also lent her voice to over 120 albums and has sold more than 100 million records making her one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. Back in the year 2004, Christopher Loudon, of Jazz Times wrote that Ronstadt is “blessed with arguably the most sterling set of pipes of her generation.”

Back in the year 2000, Ronstadt reduced her activity when she felt her singing voice deteriorating, releasing her last full-length album in 2004. She performed her last live concert in the year 2009. Later on in the year 2011, Linda announced her retirement. Shortly afterward, she revealed that she is no longer able to sing as a result of a degenerative condition later determined to be progressive supranuclear palsy.

From then on, she has continued to make public appearances while going on a number of public speaking tours in the 2010s. Ronstadt also published an autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir in the month of September 2013. Later on, a documentary based on her memoirs, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice was released in 2019.

She joined forces with Bobby Kimmel and Kenny Edwards and became the lead singer of a folk-rock trio, The Stone Poneys. This was after establishing her professional career in the mid-1960s at the forefront of California’s emerging folk rock and country rock movements. These genres defined post-1960s rock music. Later on, when she was a solo artist, she released Hand Sown … Home Grown in 1969. The song has been described as the first alternative country record by a female recording artist.

This fame eluded her during these years and she actively toured with Neil Young, the Doors, Jackson Browne, and others. She also appeared numerous times on television shows and began to contribute her singing to albums by other artists.

After the release of chart-topping albums such as Simple Dreams, Living in the USA, and Heart Like a Wheel, she became the first female “arena class” rock star. Linda sets a record as one of the top-grossing concert artists of the decade.

Ronstadt is referred to as the “First Lady of Rock” and the “Queen of Rock.” She was voted the Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s. Her image was as famous as her music. She appeared six times on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine and on the covers of Newsweek and Time.

During the 1980s, she performed on Broadway and received a Tony nomination for her performance in The Pirates of Penzance. Then, she teamed up with the composer of Philip Glass and recorded traditional music. She also collaborated with the conductor Nelson Riddle, an event at that time viewed as an original and unorthodox move for a rock-and-roll artist.

It is this venture that paid off and she remained one of the music industry’s best-selling acts throughout the 1980s. This was having multi-platinum-selling albums such as What’s New, Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind, Mad Love, and Canciones de Mi Padre.

Ronstadt continued on to tour, collaborate, and record celebrated albums such as Winter Light and Hummin’ to Myself. This was until her retirement in the year 2011. She stands as one of the most successful female recording artists in U.S. history.

Ronstadt opened many doors for women in rock and roll and other musical genres by championing songwriters and musicians. She pioneered her chart success onto the concert circuit and was in the vanguard of many musical movements.

Back in the year 2009, in honor of Ronstadt, the Martin Guitar Company made a 00–42 model “Linda Ronstadt Limited Edition” acoustic guitar. She appointed the Land Institute as the recipient of all proceeds from her signature guitar. Back in the year 2013, Simon & Schuster published her autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, as well as the Spanish version, Sueños Sencillos – Memorias Musicales.

Linda Ronstadt Awards

In the course of Linda’s singing career, she was privileged to receive an Emmy Award, 11 Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, an ALMA Award, and three American Music Awards. She states that most of her albums have been certified platinum, multiplatinum, and gold in the United States and internationally.

Asides from that, she has earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award. Ronstadt was privileged to be awarded the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Recording Academy in 2011. This is in addition to receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2016. Asides from this, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the month of April 2014.

The 28th of July 2014 saw him being awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities Award. Later on, in 2019, she was privileged to receive a star jointly with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their work as the group Trio. Linda was privileged to be among the five honorees who received the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements.

Linda Ronstadt Acting Career

Asides from her acting career, she has made appearances in films and movies such as It’s Happening between 1968 and 1969. In the film, she appeared in about two episodes acting in her personal self role. She also made an appearance in the film The Johnny Cash Show between 1969 and 1971. There, she was still holding the same role and appeared in about 4 episodes.

Later on in the year 1970, she appeared in the film television series, Hee Haw in episode 1.28. In the same year, she made an appearance in the series, Playboy After Dark as a singer. Then, she appeared in 2 episodes of the series. Ronstadt also made an appearance in the movie, The Darin Invasion in the year 1970. The year 1975 saw her featured in the series, Cher in episode 1.10.

She also appeared in Saturday Night Live between 1977 and 1989 as a musical guest in 4 episodes. The year 1978 saw her make an appearance in the movie FM as a Concert Performer. Linda has also featured in the film, The Pirates of Penzance where she was holding the role of Mabel Stanley in 1980. Between the years 1981 and 1982, she was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical for the film. Later on, in 1983, she was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for the same film.

In the same year, she appeared on The Muppet Show on episode 5.23. Later on in the year 1984, she made an appearance in the movie La bohème where she was holding the role of Mimi. In 1987, she went on to appear in the film, Corridos! Tales of Passion and Revolution as La Chata and Adelita.

Ronstadt was a vocalist in the film Canciones de Mi Padre in 1988. For this role, she was awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. She also made an appearance as a guest singer on Sesame Street in 1989 and appeared in one episode of the series.

She also made an appearance in the film, Great Performances as San Miguel in the year 1991. There, she appeared in the episode La Pastorela. Later on, in 1992, she appeared in the series, The Simpsons in the episode Mr. Plow. Afterward, in 1993, she appeared on The Young Indiana Chronicles Peggy as a singing voice. There, she appeared in the episode Young Indiana Jones and the Scandal of 1920.

Back in the year 2019, she appeared in the film, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice both in person and on archive footage. Later on, in 2020, she appeared on Linda and the Mockingbirds where she appeared both in person and on archive footage.

Linda Ronstadt Disease

Back in the month of August 2013, she revealed that she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, leaving her unable to sing due to loss of muscular control. This is common in Parkinson’s patients. Ronstadt was diagnosed eight months prior to the announcement and had initially attributed the symptoms she had been experiencing to the aftereffects of shoulder surgery and a tick bite.

Later on in the year 2019, it was reported that her doctors had revised their diagnosis to progressive supranuclear palsy. This is a degenerative disease commonly mistaken for Parkinson’s due to the similarity of the symptoms. She describes herself as a “spiritual atheist”.

Linda Ronstadt Books

1. Ronstadt, Linda (2013). Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir (First Simon & Schuster hardcover ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster.
2. Ronstadt, Linda (2022). Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands. New York: Heyday Books.

Linda Ronstadt’s Songs/Albums

1. Adios (Linda Ronstadt song)
2. Alison (song)
3. All My Life (Linda Ronstadt song)
4. Baby, Walk On
5. Back in the U.S.A.
6. Blue Bayou
7. Can’t We Be Friends?
8. Carmelita (song)
9. Close Your Eyes (Chuck Willis song)
10. Crazy (Willie Nelson song)
11. Crazy Arms
12. Dedicated to the One I Love
13. Desperado (Eagles song)
14. Different Drum
15. Don’t Know Much