She is referred to as the “First Lady of Rock” and was a ground-breaking singer-songwriter whose distinctive mezzo-soprano voice could be heard on number-one hits like “You’re No Good” and “Blue Bayou”.
Contrarily, Linda Ronstadt is no longer a singer, at least not one of her fans can hear.
The 76-year-old claimed in a recent interview with Maria Shriver that she could sing in her head.
In 2013, Ronstadt received a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis after experiencing vocal issues for years. She eventually learned she had progressive supranuclear palsy, a condition related to Parkinson’s disease.
The rare disease, brought on by the death of brain cells that control thought, movement, and coordination, has many of the same symptoms as dementia and Parkinson’s, according to the Mayo Clinic. And over time, these symptoms get worse.
Ronstadt could not sing out loud due to her illness; instead, she could only hear the music in her head.
In her own words, singing in her head “wasn’t quite the same.”.
Especially since she doesn’t always pick the melody when it comes to music that only she can hear.
According to Ronstadt, “sometimes I choose the music, and sometimes my brain chooses the song.”.
The fact that she would never pick these songs for herself only makes her irritated further.
“My brain picks the worst music,” she said. It plays incessantly in my head and sounds like dreadful Christmas carols. “.
Ronstadt recalls when she could still sing but couldn’t get a record label’s attention. Her albums have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. She decided to put out a Spanish-language album in the 1980s as a tribute to her Mexican ancestry.
He pleaded with me not to do it. She recalled what little of your left career would be destroyed. I was unable to hear him, too. I thought Mexicans were invisible in this culture and that we were the underdogs. ”.
“They should be in the kitchen doing the dishes, cooking for you, or cleaning your house. But it doesn’t seem like they have another context”.
Her first of many Spanish-language albums, “Canciones de Mi Padre,” a collection of traditional Mariachi music, was released in 1987.
2021 saw the Grammy Hall of Fame induct the album.
