Maria Linda Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an
American popular music vocalist and
entertainer. Her many vocal styles in a variety of genres have resonated with the general public over the course of her four-decade career. As a result, she has earned multiple
Grammy Awards, two
Academy of Country Music awards, an
Emmy Award, an
ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified
gold,
platinum and
multiplatinum albums, in addition to
Tony Award and
Golden Globe nominations.
A
singer-songwriter and
record producer, she is recognized as a definitive
interpreter of songs.
Being one of music’s most versatile, and commercially successful female singers in U.S. history, she is recognized for her many public stages of self-reinvention and public incarnations.
With a one time standing as the
Queen of Rock where she was bestowed the title of "highest paid woman in rock",
and known as the
First Lady of Rock, she has more recently emerged as music
matriarch and international arts
advocate.
Ronstadt has collaborated with more artists from a diverse spectrum of genres – including
Billy Eckstine ,
Frank Zappa,
Rosemary Clooney,
Flaco Jimenez,
Philip Glass,
The Chieftains,
Gram Parsons - than perhaps any popular music vocalist in modern U.S. history, lending her voice to
over 120 albums around the world.
