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'''Linda Maria Ronstadt''' (born [[July 15]], [[1946]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[singer]] and [[songwriter]].

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Born in [[Tucson, Arizona]], Linda Ronstadt began her career in the mid [[1960s]] singing in [[Los Angeles, California]] clubs with the folk-rock group, the [[Stone Poneys]]. She scored her first hit single in [[1967]], as singer for the Stone Poneys, with the song "Different Drum," written by [[Monkees]] member [[Michael Nesmith]]. 

Her first solo hit single came in [[1970]], with the [[country rock]] crossover single, "Long Long Time."  She achieved her greatest commercial success during the [[1970s]], with a string of platinum albums, as she branched out from the earlier country rock sound to include more conventional rock, often [[cover version|covering]] early rock classics from the [[1950s]] and early [[1960s]].  Her breakthrough year was [[1975]], when she released a series of hits beginning with the single "You're No Good."  She hit No. 1 on the [[Billboard magazine]] charts with her [[1978]] album ''Living in the U.S.A''.


In addition to pop-rock hits such as her popular version of the [[Roy Orbison]] hit, "Blue Bayou" and duets with [[Aaron Neville]] that received much critical acclaim, her long singing career has been filled with an eclectic mix of recordings, including [[Big Band]] sounds, Mexican canciones, an album of old-time country music, an album of Latin music, and an album of rock classics redone as lullabies.

After appearing in the [[Broadway]] play, in [[1983]] she co-starred with [[Kevin Kline]] and [[Angela Lansbury]] in ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'', a motion picture based on a [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] [[operetta]].

Showing her versatility yet again, in [[1996]] Ms. Ronstadt released 
''Dedicated to the One I Love'', an album of children's music. In a career spanning four decades, she has recorded more than forty albums, her latest a return to her roots in pop-rock ballads.

Ronstadt dated California governor [[Jerry Brown]] in the late 1970's.

== External Link ==
*[http://www.ronstadt-linda.com/ Unofficial Linda Ronstadt Homepage]

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====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Linda_Ronstadt" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Ronstadt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Ronstadt], used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]