Thread by @rwcogito

All the love for Linda Ronstadt on this app today is so beautiful to see. From the first time I heard her sing “Blue Bayou” — on the Muppet Show no less! — I was hooked. I never had a chance. 🧵1/

As a singer myself, I’ve always been inspired and intimidated in equal measure by Linda’s warm, flawless tone (the sound of moonlight) and her dynamic and emotional range — not to mention the sheer power of her instrument, and the remarkable delicacy with which she uses it. 2/

Her mammoth catalog of impeccable pop, rock and country classics would be more than enough for any artist’s career. But then she rocked the world by recording 3 exquisite albums of songs from the Great American Songbook, with Nelson Riddle. 3/

It was a gamble; her management and the label worried that the Riddle albums would alienate her fanbase. Instead, Linda made Nelson Riddle — and American jazz standards — cool to a whole new audience. That voice, those songs… it was a match made in heaven. 4/

As for me, I was *obsessed.* I started looking into the artists who inspired Linda. That led me to Billie Holiday and, before too long, to the GOAT herself: the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald. (My musical life divides into 2 parts: Before Ella, and After Ella.) 5/

Like Ella, Linda is blessed with a crystal-clear tone, flawless intonation, and a voice that can literally do anything she can think of — naturally, easily, and with an effortless elegance that makes every phrase somehow inevitable, yet imbued with the thrill of discovery. 6/

She’s one of my holy trinity of singers — Linda, Ella, George Michael — who to me represent the Platonic ideal of a vocalist.

(OK, there's a 4th — the sublime and dazzling @eddireader — but “holy quadrinity” sounds a little pretentious even for me.) 7/

So Linda Ronstadt’s work with Nelson Riddle was the gateway drug that led me to the work of the great jazz singers. Full stop.

But then she released an album of rancheros and huapangos, which I got purely by accident, and which remains one of my favorite albums of all time. 8/

I studied French in high school and college — but trust and believe I’ve learned enough Spanish to sing the songs on Canciones de Mi Padre. That chance purchase opened my mind to a whole world of music that, otherwise, I might never have grown to love. 9/

That’s not even touching on her astonishing work in The Pirates of Penzance, or her collaborations with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton and Aaron Neville — or even “Long, Long Time,” which was used to such devastating effect in last night’s episode of #TheLastOfUs. 10/

It’s also giving short shrift to the incisive, uncompromising way she’s used her voice in the realm of politics. Suffice it to say that Linda Ronstadt has never been one to mince words when the truth needs telling. “Shut up and sing?” GFY! 11/

There’s no grand point to this thread, other than to say: Linda, I love you. I owe you a debt, as both a music lover and poor imitator of your artistry, that I can never repay. And I’m glad you’re being celebrated for the grace, joy, and beauty you’ve given to us all. 12/12

Just one quick note: I know Linda doesn’t sing anymore, but I very deliberately chose to write about her voice in the present tense. A voice — especially one like hers — is eternal, unfettered by the limitations of time or our clumsy, fragile, temporary physical bodies.