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| Linda Ronstadt To Open Newport Folk Festival George Wein and The Festival Network announced that ten-time Grammy winner and multi-platinum artist Linda Ronstadt has been confirmed to open the 2007 Dunkin' Donuts Newport Folk Festival on Friday, August 3. "An Evening With Linda Ronstadt", will begin at 8:00 pm at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino located at 194 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. This will be Linda Ronstadt's first appearance at Newport's historic folk festival--"a long-awaited performance from a truly iconic artist", said Festival Producer Robert L. Jones. "We are very excited to present her at last, and in a full-length concert of her greatest hits. This will be a real treat for music-lovers." Linda Ronstadt has recorded three #1 albums, a chart-topping single, ten Top 10 albums and ten Top 10 singles. She has sold more than 30 million records, including Greatest Hits, which was certified seven-times-platinum in 2001. What's New, Cry Like a Rainstorm and Howl Like the Wind have all sold more than 3 million copies apiece. In the 1960s, the Tucson, Arizona-born Ronstadt headed for Los Angeles, where she formed the Stone Poneys and landed a recording contract with Capitol. The group scored a massive hit with the tune "Different Drum", whose success dovetailed into Ronstadt's '70s solo career. During the '70s, she turned out an unprecedented string of hit singles and platinum albums which showcased her remarkable voice, her deep connection to folk, country and rock roots, and her sterling taste in musicians. One of her early backup bands became the Eagles. This work, including such much-loved LPs as Heart Like A Wheel, Prisoner In Disguise and Hasten Down the Wind also found Ronstadt championing such soon-to-be-famous contemporary songwriters as Jackson Browne, Neil Young, Warren Zevon and Elvis Costello. In the '80s, Ronstadt widened her range even further, exploring new-wave rock 'n roll and performing a starring role opposite Kevin Kline in the Broadway production and subsequent feature film version of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Those efforts preceded her extended collaboration with renowned producer/arranger Nelson Riddle on three groundbreaking albums of standards, What's New, Lush Life and For Sentimental Reasons, which have sold nearly six million copies in the U.S. alone. Ronstadt continued to expand her musical horizons with such diverse projects as Trio, her Grammy(r)-winning 1987 collaboration with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris and its 1999 follow-up. She paid tribute to her Mexican roots on 1987's Grammy(r)-winning, double-platinum Canciones de Mi Padre and its sequel Mas Canciones, and explored Afro-Cuban pop styles on 1992's Frenesi. Her 1989 double-platinum hit Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind included two Grammy-winning duets with Aaron Neville. In 1996, she released a Grammy-winning collection of children's lullabies, Dedicated to the One I Love, followed by the 1998 pop album We Ran and the critically acclaimed 2000 holiday collection A Merry Little Christmas. She's also carved out a creative sideline as a producer for other artists, overseeing albums by the likes of Aaron Neville, Jimmy Webb and David Lindley. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |