Linda Ronstadt Portrait

Photograph of Linda Ronstadt sitting on a beach wearing a white dress with a blue sash.

This image of Linda Ronstadt was taken outside her Malibu beach house. Ronstadt was an active musician from the late 1960s up until 2011 - her career came to an end when Parkinson's Disease took her ability to sing. Her most popular period came during the late 1970s, wherein she was a very high paid musician that straddled the line between pop and rock music. By 1980 she had released five straight platinum albums, three of which were number one on the Billboard charts. Ronstadt was/is known for her own music and perhaps equally for her covers of songs such as Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou" and the Motown classic "Heat Wave". Throughout her career she consistently  won Grammy awards - even through the 1990s and 2000s after her popularity began to fade. Since the early 2000s, she has used her influence to be outspoken on both political issues and an ardent supporter for arts programs nationally. Although Parkinson's has made it so that she cannot sing due to a loss of muscle control, she continues to go around the country giving speeches and motivational talks.