How a Tucson radio station is honoring a legend

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KXCI-FM (91.3), a Tucson community radio station, is celebrating Linda Ronstadt’s 75th birthday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 15.

KXCI DJs will be sharing music to celebrate the legacy of the Tucson-born in a career that, the station says, “takes some of the signature cultures and characters of Sonora, Mexico and southern Arizona to the most remote corners of the world.” World carries with it “.

You don’t have to be in Tucson to stream the station’s celebration on KXCI.org.

Born in Tucson, she was one of the most successful artists of her generation, selling “stupid” arenas, as she called them in a recent interview with The Republic, thanks to hits like “When Will I Be Loved” and “Blue Bayou”. “

How Ronstadt’s music crosses many genres

After starting her career in 1967 with the groundbreaking single “Different Drum”, a baroque ballad with Linda Ronstadt credited to the Stone Poneys, she made a career-defining series of 10 top 20 singles from 1975 to “You’re.” No Good “until the 1980s” hurts so much.

From there, she has spread into almost every realm of music, from her lead role in “Pirates Of Penzance” on Broadway to her multiplatin versions of the Great American Songbook with Nelson Riddle, who performed the mariachi classics in “Canciones de mi Padre ”performed and collaborated with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton on country albums.

After receiving a Tony nomination in 1981 for her role in “The Pirates of Penzance,” she moved away from the country, pop, and rock sounds of her hit years and recorded a trilogy of albums including the Great American Songbook celebrated with conductor Nelson Riddle.

This was followed by “Trio”, a collaboration with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris in 1986, and “Canciones De Mi Padre” in 1987, the singer’s first album of traditional Mexican mariachi music.

In a 2018 interview with The Republic, Ronstadt said, “In the 90s, I did my best to sing. Somehow I could do what I wanted. I was able to bring my voice to it. “

She has won Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Grammys and Latin Grammys. And although she prefers standards and Mexican folk songs to the rock ‘n’ roll that made her famous in the 1970s, Ronstadt took her rightful place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

What Ronstadt is doing right now

At the time of this introduction, Ronstadt was retired.

Unable to live up to her own standards, the singer gave her last appearance, a Mexican show, in 2009 and retired two years later.

However, she toured with a critically acclaimed one-woman show, A Conversation with Linda Ronstadt from 2014 to 2018.

“Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice,” a heartfelt documentary, won the Grammy Awards for Best Music Film in March.

Last October she received the Legend Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation on PBS.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.

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