(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sun 15 February 2026 19:00, UK
The year is 1973, and Linda Ronstadt is the biggest female singer in rock and roll.
She might not be one of the grittiest vocalists of all time or anything, but in an age when Eagles were about to take over the world, hearing her soar over some of the finest songs that California ever produced is still one of the best sounds to come out of that entire decade. But even if she never considered herself the greatest rock and roll singer who ever lived, she could recognise when some of the best in their field were practising their craft.
Because, really, Ronstadt started off as a music fan first and a singer second. She was more than happy to sing with anyone that she could, but when you start listening to her voice in isolation, it’s not exactly the kind of belting voice you’d expect from every other rock vocalist. She definitely got the job done on ‘You’re No Good’, but Ronstadt’s voice always catered more towards the softer sides of the musical spectrum.
She always felt a lot more at home when working on her album of standards or even when she started her work on Broadway, but there would always be people aching to hear what she could do on the average pop-rock album. Ronstadt might have forgotten about rock and roll for a long time, but that didn’t mean that rock and roll forgot about her once her proteges ended up becoming larger than life.
There wouldn’t have been artists like Stevie Nicks without Ronstadt coming first, but the country-rock legend did feel a bit too out of place when she got started. She didn’t fit the same mould as someone like Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, and when she saw Janis Joplin, there was no point in trying to compete with that. She was a genius at work whenever she got onstage, and that throaty voice could put even the heaviest rock and roll outfits to shame.
Big Brother and the Holding Company may have been a perfectly decent blues-rock outfit for the time, but Joplin was the one bringing the spark to all of their classic songs. ‘Piece of My Heart’ was always going to be a vehicle for her voice, and even though a song like ‘Down On Me’ is a fantastic tune, it wouldn’t come alive until she started belting her way through it whenever they played it live.
But even with all of that grit and gravel, Ronstadt felt that it was impossible for anyone to poke holes in any of Joplin’s performances, saying, “As for Janis, it was impossible not to love her. She was a sweet, sincere person, and she truly loved the music. Not only was she passionate about the blues, but she had great respect for the people whose shoulders she stood on, which I appreciate.”
After all, Joplin was one of the most passionate vocalists that the world had ever seen, and even though she left us with only a few records, you can find a little bit of everything in her work. There’s the showstopping numbers like ‘Ball and Chain’, the boozy rock and rollers like ‘Cry Baby’, and even on her final album, ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ is where she got to take the veil off and show everyone her sensitive side as well.
Ronstadt’s voice definitely fit in a lot better with the Carole Kings of the world, but she wasn’t about to talk bad about Joplin’s voice by any stretch. It was simply a different instrument, and rarely do you get to see a singer that is in complete control of their voice in the same way she was when she played the Monterey Pop Festival.