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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 31 december 2019
Film explores Ronstadt's life, wide-ranging music career

By DAVID BAUDER Ronstadt said she hadn't
Associated Press planned to mention the
NEW YORK (AP) — Between Trump administration but
the Kennedy Center Hon- did so to show support for
ors and a CNN documen- fellow honoree Sally Field.
tary about her life debuting The actress had remarked
on television New Year's about living in an era where
Day, Linda Ronstadt is tak- the idea of truth was being
ing a career victory lap. challenged, Ronstadt said.
Ronstadt drew attention "Half the room applauded
this month for a comment and the other half sat in si-
at a dinner for Kennedy lence," Ronstadt recalled.
honorees hosted by the "I just wanted to say that I
State Department and was in solidarity with her. I
Secretary Mike Pompeo. didn't want her to stand up

This Feb. 20, 1977 file photo shows singer Linda Ronstadt is flanked by Ringo Starr, left, and Paul
Williams after she was named best pop singer for her "Hasten Down the Wind" at The 19th Annual
Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
Associated Press

there by herself." released in 2006. She per- in that scene; an early
During his remarks, Pom- formed her last concert in backing band eventually
peo referenced a Ronstadt 2009. morphed into the Eagles.
hit, "When Will I Be Loved," "I didn't do the work for She paid Don Henley $250
saying he wondered when prizes. I never took that into a week to play the drums.
he'd be loved. When it was consideration," she said. One of the things Entelis
Ronstadt's turn to speak, The recent recognition is appreciates about the film
the 73-year-old retired "lovely, you know. I'm glad is that the music is given a
singer tartly answered the they like it. I like some of it chance to breathe, that
question and said it would and don't like most of it. The it's not presented as an all-
be "when he stops enabling good thing is it got better. too-brief afterthought.
Donald Trump." My early work makes me Filmmakers resisted the ob-
When will Ronstadt be cringe. Later on it got bet- vious temptation to make
loved? Now seems to be ter." a tear-jerker, to completely
the time, with the well-re- She also had an admirer in frame it around the cruelty
ceived documentary, "Lin- Amy Entelis, an executive of a peerless singer no lon-
da Ronstadt: The Sound of at CNN. ger able to sing.
My Voice." Viewers will see "She was iconic in my "My book doesn't even
that Ronstadt's career had life," said Entelis, who is mention that I have Parkin-
two distinct stages. in charge of CNN Films, son's, so they didn't dwell
There was the rock star, sex and therefore, in position on it," Ronstadt said, refer-
symbol days with hits like to green light the Rob Ep- ring to her 2013 autobiog-
"You're No Good," "Heat stein and Jeffrey Friedman raphy. "I don't think it would
Wave" and "Blue Bayou." documentary. It's not char- be very interesting. A lot of
Part two began with her ity work; biographies have people get sick."
1980 New York stage role in done well for CNN's film di- Still, with the film nearly
"The Pirates of Penzance," vision, most notably "RBG" done, Entelis said it was
ushering in adventurous about Supreme Court Jus- clear there was something
projects featuring jazz stan- tice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, missing. That's what led
dards, traditional Mexican and others are in the works to the final scene, which
recordings and trio discs on Anthony Bourdain and shows Ronstadt with her
with Emmylou Harris and Julia Child. cousin and nephew in Mex-
Dolly Parton. Despite the Her participation was mini- ico as they sing the song "A
fear of record company mal, aside from narrating La Orilla de un Palmar."
executives, many of the stories about her early life, Harris says in the film that
projects did quite well. including her Mexican heri- her old trio partner doesn't
She now lives a quiet life tage and family's musical miss making records, but
in the San Francisco area, background, and a key does miss singing. The ache
her singing voice stilled by final scene. Plenty of com- in Ronstadt's eyes in that
Parkinson's Disease. Her patriots in the 1970s Los scene is where you can see
last album, a collabora- Angeles music scene were what Harris means. Ron-
tion with Cajun singer Ann happy to talk, most notably stadt mouths the words,
Savoy that Ronstadt con- J.D. Souther and Harris. but you can't really tell
siders one of her best, was Ronstadt has deep roots what comes out.q