Tag Archives: Emmylou Harris

Selena Gomez Starring as Linda Ronstadt in Biopic Based on the Singer’s “Simple Dreams” Memoir

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Selena Gomez is heading to the Blue Bayou…

The 31-year-old Mexican American actress/singer will portray Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic based on the superstar singer’s 2013 memoir Simple Dreams.

Selena GomezGomez, who stars in and executive produces Hulu’s The Only Murders In The Building, gave credence to the months-old internet rumors about the project by posting a photo of the memoir as an Instagram Story. Rolling Stone later confirmed the casting.

In pre-production, the film is being co-produced by James Keach and Ronstadt’s longtime manager John Boylan.

Additional casting and release date have not been announced.

An unconfirmed report of Gomez’s involvement in the biopic surfaced last July, but the IG Story today moved the possibility into the definite.

Keach directed the 2020 film Linda and the Mockingbirds, a documentary chronicling a road trip undertaken by Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and a group of younger musicians to the Mexican town of Banámichi in the state of Sonora, the birthplace of Ronstadt’s grandfather.

Linda Ronstadt Heart Like a WheelLike Gomez, who has had a successful music and acting career, Ronstadt is of Mexican descent. Ronstadt wrote at length about her heritage in the 2013 memoir. The singer returned to the subject in the 2022 book Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands.

Despite her 2012 retirement following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease – the diagnosis was revised seven years later to progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative disease similar to Parkinson’s that has left Ronstadt unable to sing – Ronstadt and her music have returned to the spotlight in recent months. Last year her 1970 recording of “Long Long Time” was featured prominently in an episode of The Last of Us, and trailers for Ryan Murphy’s upcoming FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans make heavy use of Ronstadt’s smash 1974 hit “You’re No Good.”

The 2019 documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, offered an in-depth retrospective of her life and career, featuring on-screen appearances by and interviews with Ronstadt and her many musical friends and colleagues, including Browne, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Kevin Kline, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt and J.D. Souther.

If even a fraction of the many rockers and celebrities who’ve crossed paths with Ronstadt over the years make it into the biopic as characters, Hollywood will be very busy in coming months with actors vying for plum roles.

Flaco Jiménez’s “Partners” Album Among This Year’s National Recording Registry Selections

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Flaco Jiménez is being added to the registry…

One of the 82-year-old Mexican American singer, songwriter and accordionist’s most popular albums Partners, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1992, is one of this year’s National Recording Registry selections.

Flaco Jiménez

Jiménez, a Tejano music legend, appears on the new list of classic recordings joining the registry that Janet Jackson‘s 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814, Kool & the Gang‘s buoyant single “Celebration“; Nas‘ game-changing debut album Illmatic and timeless children’s titles Free To Be… You And Me and “The Rainbow Connection.”

“Partners” by Jiménez, a champion of traditional conjunto music and Tex-Mex culture who is also known for innovation and collaboration with a variety of artists. This bilingual album features collaborations with Linda Ronstadt, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris and Los Lobos, among others.

The addition of 25 recordings this year brings to 575 the total number of titles in the registry, which selects recordings worthy of preservation based on their cultural, historical and/or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.

Nearly 900 titles were submitted for recognition this year.

“The National Recording Registry will preserve our history through these vibrant recordings of music and voices that have reflected our humanity and shaped our culture from the past 143 years,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement.

Here’s the complete list, in chronological order:
1. Edison’s “St. Louis tinfoil” recording (1878)
2. “Nikolina” — Hjalmar Peterson (1917 single)
3. “Smyrneikos Balos” — Marika Papagika (1928) (single)
4. “When the Saints Go Marching In” — Louis Armstrong & his Orchestra (1938) (single)
5. Christmas Eve Broadcast – Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (December 24, 1941)
6. “The Guiding Light” — November 22, 1945
7. Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues — Odetta (1957) (album)
8. “Lord, Keep Me Day by Day” — Albertina Walker and the Caravans (1959) (single)
9. Roger Maris hits his 61st homerun (October 1, 1961)
10. Aida — Leontyne Price, et.al. (1962) (album)
11. “Once a Day” — Connie Smith (1964) (single)
12. Born Under a Bad Sign — Albert King (1967) (album)
13. Free to Be…You & Me — Marlo Thomas and Friends (1972) (album)
14. The Harder They Come — Jimmy Cliff (1972) (album)
15. “Lady Marmalade” — LaBelle (1974) (single)
16. Late for the Sky — Jackson Browne (1974) (album)
17. Bright Size Life — Pat Metheny (1976) (album)
18. “The Rainbow Connection” — Kermit the Frog (1979) (single)
19. “Celebration” — Kool & the Gang (1980) (single)
20. Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs — Jessye Norman (1983) (album)
21. Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 — Janet Jackson (1989) (album)
22. Partners — Flaco Jiménez (1992) (album)
23. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”/”What A Wonderful World” — Israel
Kamakawiwo’ole (1993) (single)
24. Illmatic — Nas (1994) (album)
25. “This American Life: The Giant Pool of Money” (May 9, 2008)

Recording Academy Adds Two Linda Ronstadt Albums to Grammy Hall of Fame, Including “Canciones de Mi Padre”

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Linda Ronstadt is pulling a double…

The Recording Academy has announced 29 songs and albums that it’ll add to the Grammy Hall of Fame, with the 74-year-old half-Mexican American singer landing two albums on the list.

Linda Ronstadt

Ronstadt’s Spanish-language album Canciones de Mi Padre, released in 1987, has earned a place in the Grammy Hall.

Ronstadt’s first album of Mexican traditional Mariachi music immediately became a global smash. It sold 2.5 million copies in the U.S. and has been RIAA certified double-platinum. It won Ronstadt the Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album at the 31st Grammy Awards.

Canciones de Mi Padre

Ronstadt was also recognized for Trio, the country album she made with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. It was also released in 1987.

The album has sold over 4 million copies worldwide and has also received several accolades, including the Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Trio, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris

The Grammy Hall now includes 1,142 recordings.

“We are proud to announce this year’s diverse roster of Grammy Hall of Fame inductees and to recognize recordings that have shaped our industry and inspires music makers of tomorrow,” Harvey Mason Jr., chair and interim president/CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Each recording has had a significant impact on our culture, and it is an honor to add them to our distinguished catalog.”

Here’s the full list of 2021 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees:

“Au Clair de la Lune,” Edouard-Leon Scott De Martinville, single (c. 1853-61)
“Blues Breakers,” John Mayall with Eric Clapton, album  (1966)
“Canciones de Mi Padre,” Linda Ronstadt, album (1987)
“Clean Up Woman,” Betty Wright, single (1971)
“Copenhagen,” Fletcher Henderson And His Orchestra, single (1924)
“Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey, single (1981)
“Freight Train,” Elizabeth Cotton, single (1958)
“Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.,” Bruce Springsteen, album (1973)
“Horses,” Patti Smith, album (1975)
“Hot Buttered Soul,” Isaac Hayes, album (1969)
“In the Right Place,” Dr. John, album (1973)
“Licensed to Ill,” Beastie Boys, album (1986)
“Mad Dogs & Englishmen,” Joe Cocker, album (1970)
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at ‘The Club’,” The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, album (1966)
“Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major,” Leonard Bernstein with the Philharmonia Orchestra Of London, album (1948)
“Schoenberg: The Four String Quartets,” Kolisch String Quartet, album (1937)
“So,” Peter Gabriel, album (1986)
“Solitude,” Billie Holiday, single (1952)
“Ten,” Pearl Jam, album (1991)
“Texas Flood,” Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble, album (1983)
“The Cars,” The Cars, album (1978)
“The Gambler,” Kenny Rogers, single (1978)
“The Low End Theory,” A Tribe Called Quest, album (1991)
“Time Is On My Side,” Irma Thomas, single (1964)
“Trio,” Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, album (1987)
“We Are The World,” USA For Africa, single (1985)
“When the Levee Breaks,” Kansas Joe And Memphis Minnie, single (1929)
“Wreck of the Old 97,” Vernon Dalhart, single (1924)
“Y.M.C.A.,” Village People, single (1978)

Lila Downs Joins Lineup of The Lantern Tour: Concerts for Migrant and Refugee Families

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Lila Downs is shining a lantern on migrant and refugee rights…

The 49-year-old Mexican singer has been added to the list of artists who will take part in The Lantern Tour: Concerts for Migrant and Refugee Families.

Lila Downs

Downs, a Grammy-winning singer, joins a roster that includes Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Steve Earle.

Proceeds will go to the Women’s Refugee Commission in support of families seeking safety at the United States-Mexico border.

The five-date tour begins at Nashville’s City Winery on October 23 and concludes at New York’s Town Hall on October 28.

Other dates include the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. on October 25; the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, New Jersey, on October 26; and Boston’s Orpheum Theater on October 27.

“The Women’s Refugee Commission has been on the front lines in advocating for the safety of women and children,” said Harris in a statement. “Their work is as remarkable as it is critical, especially right now. It is my honor to partner with this incredible organization and to bring my friends along for what I know will be a powerful tour.”

Founded in 1989, the WRC advocates for the rights of women, children and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. The organization has been on the forefront fighting President Donald Trump’s Zero Tolerance policy on the Mexican/U.S. border that has resulted in children being separated from their parents coming over the border.

Funds toward the concerts will go toward ending family separation and detention.

For tickets and more information, go to thelanterntour.org.

Linda Ronstadt to Receive Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

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Linda Ronstadt is about to shine a little brighter…

The class of 2019 Hollywood Walk of Fame honorees have been announced, with the71-year-old half-Mexican American singer making the list.

Linda Ronstadt 

Recipients are recognized in the recording, television, film and live theater/live performance categories, and Ronstadt is certainly a living legend.

Ronstadt, an 11-time Grammy winner, was awarded the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by The Latin Recording Academy in 2011 and also awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy in 2016. Additionally, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities in 2014.

She will receive a joint star with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. The three singers joined voiceson the albumTrio, which was released in 1987. It sold over 4 million copies worldwide and also received several awards, including two Grammy Awards.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame receives hundreds of submissions each year for a personal star on Hollywood Boulevard. The groundbreaking only comes to fruition for very few, as it is estimated that the construction and ceremony production costs exceed $30,000.

The dates for the star ceremonies have yet to be announced.