![\"Linda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Linda-Ronstadt-1980-Singer-Musician-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n
Sun 15 February 2026 19:00, UK <\/p>\n
The year is 1973, and Linda Ronstadt<\/a> is the biggest female singer in rock and roll.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s not exactly the kind of belting voice you\u2019d expect from every other rock vocalist. She definitely got the job done on \u2018You\u2019re No Good\u2019, but Ronstadt\u2019s voice always catered more towards the softer sides of the musical spectrum.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t mean that rock and roll forgot about her once her proteges ended up becoming larger than life.<\/p>\n There wouldn\u2019t 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n 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. \u2018Piece of My Heart\u2019<\/a> was always going to be a vehicle for her voice, and even though a song like \u2018Down On Me\u2019 is a fantastic tune, it wouldn\u2019t come alive until she started belting her way through it whenever they played it live.<\/p>\n