Review: Linda Ronstadt Celebrates Her Life in a Conversation With Dan Guerrero at CSUN

It's not often you get to share a rare moment in time with a music legend, listening in on a conversation as if it were taking place in her living room with a good friend as she shares memories of her incredible career in the music industry. Such was the case on Tuesday evening, September 29 at the Valley Performing Arts Center at Cal State Northridge where music legend Linda Ronstadt sat down with longtime friend and award-winning producer Dan Guerrero to share excerpts from her 2013 book Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir as well as photos and stories from her childhood in Tucson, AZ, through her life as one of the most influential vocalists of the modern era.

While sharing her memories, I learned that over the course of her notable career, Ronstadt broadened the latitudes of the traditional '60's pop singer, expanding her canvas to include country, rock and roll, big band, jazz, opera, Broadway standards, Mexican and Afro-Cuban influences, leaving no stone unturned in the pursuit of the ultimate song. With worldwide album sales of over 50 million, at least 31 gold and platinum records, 10 Grammy Awards, membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a National Medal of Arts to her credit, Linda certainly has cemented her place as the consummate American artist. And thanks to her many recordings, we will always be able to experience her incredible vocal stylings even though she no longer records or performs in concert.

As a young child, Linda developed her multi-range soprano voice while singing with her family in the adobe house built by her parents in Tucson. Her music career officially began when she was a "not very dedicated student" at the University of Arizona when she met guitarist Bob Kimmel. The duo soon moved to Los Angeles where they were joined by guitarist/songwriter Kenny Edwards. Calling themselves the Stone Poneys, the group became a leading attraction on California's folk circuit, starting at a small club in the South Bay before recording their self-titled first album The Stone Poneys in 1967. The band's second album, Evergreen, Vol. 2, featured the Top 20 hit "Different Drum" which was written by Michael Nesmith. After recording one more album with the group, Linda left to become a solo artist at the end of 1968.

For the next forty years, Linda built a career without precedent in American musical history. Along with the Eagles (her former back-up band), Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and others, she helped create California country-rock, the dominant American music of the 1970s. At the height of her fame, with her picture on the cover of TIME magazine, she broadened her musical outlook, embracing musical theatre, the Great American Songbook, and her Mexican heritage, sharing stories, recordings and videos of her many hits and singing partnerships.

Ronstadt has always had a deep connection to her Mexican roots. Close family friend, Lalo Guerrero, who is widely-acclaimed as "Father of Chicano Music" was a big influence on her. The evening's host Dan Guerrero, Lalo Guerrero's son, met Linda for the first time when she was on her "Canciones de Mi Padre" tour, and they have been close friends ever since, often sharing inside stories only the two of them could possibly know about her life on the road.

Her album of traditional mariachi music "Canciones de mi Padre" is the biggest-selling foreign language album in American record history. Lovingly honoring that tradition, the evening included a musical interlude by the Conjunto Hueyapan, a string instrument music group dedicated to the Son Jarocho music tradition that originated in Veracruz, Mexico and is one of Ronstadt's favorite styles of Mexican music. The Conjunto Hueyapan was founded in 1973 by Fermín Herrera, professor of Nahuatl at California State University Northridge, who appeared onstage with his daughter, also an incredible singer who credits Ronstadt with being her first singing coach. Ronstadt thoroughly enjoyed the performance, claiming she has not seen the singer since she was about 8 years old.

Linda Ronstadt sang her last concert in 2009, and shortly thereafter announced her retirement from singing due to her Parkinson's diagnosis. Unlike most retirements, however, Linda's has been quite busy since then receiving a Latin Grammy for Lifetime Achievement from NARAS President Neil Portnow, writing her previously mentioned memoir which included an extensive national book tour, and being elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in December of 2013. The ceremony was held on April 10, 2014 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and featured an induction speech by Eagles founding member (and ex-Ronstadt band mate) Glenn Frey, as well as a musical tribute to Linda featuring Emmylou Harris (one of her "favorite singing partners"), Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, and Carrie Underwood. Just recently, Linda was honored by President Barack Obama, who awarded her the National Medal of Arts at a White House ceremony on July 28, 2014.

I feel truly blessed to have attended this one-night only event and for the sake of her many fans and friends across the country, I hope Ronstadt will continue to share her lifetime of spectacular memories with audiences across the country for many years to come.

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