The 10 best Linda Ronstadt songs

It all comes back to that unmistakable voice. For more than four decades, audiences were captivated by the titanic voice of Linda Ronstadt. A truly singular figure in music, Ronstadt was one of the most successful artists of the 1970s and 1980s. But what has made her stand apart from the rest of her peers is the sheer virtuosity and versatility of her work.

From 1960s pop to 1970s California country, Ronstadt’s most famous work was eclectic. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that Linda Ronstadt has sung just about every conceivable genre of music. That includes traditional pop, jazz, children’s music, opera, and even traditional Mexican songs. The breadth of Ronstadt’s discography can likely go toe-to-toe with anyone else’s in the history of the music business.

Ronstadt only rarely worked as a songwriter, but that didn’t matter – every song that came into her catalogue instantly became a Linda Ronstadt song. She wasn’t afraid to take on classics from the likes of Buddy Holly, the Eagles, or The Rolling Stones. In fact, most of the material that Ronstadt covered would become more commercially successful thanks to her renditions. She might not have written the material, but make no mistake – those songs became hers.

To highlight the best Linda Ronstadt songs is to take a trip through a wide variety of styles, genres, and trends. No matter what she happens to be singing, Ronstadt has an uncanny ability to make every song sound perfect to her voice. Check out Ronstadt’s ten best songs down below.

‘Different Drum’

The first time most audiences heard Linda Ronstadt was thanks to the Los Angeles folk trio the Stone Poneys. The group had largely missed out on the folk-rock boom of the time, but when they got their hands on a song by Michael Nesmith, things started to fall into place.

‘Different Drum’ had been rejected by The Monkees’ creative team at the time. The Stone Poneys’ version only featured Ronstadt, along with a host of studio players that included future Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon. ‘Different Drum’ was Ronstadt’s first hit single, inspiring her to strike out on her own as a solo artist.

‘Long, Long Time’

After leaving the Stone Poneys, Ronstadt leaned more heavily into the upstart country rock movement that was coming out of California in the early 1970s. Ronstadt’s folk roots made the transition easy, but she struggled to find the right combination of material, musicians, and producers that could get the best out of her. 

Gary White’s ‘Long, Long Time‘ would be the only hit that Ronstadt had in her first years as a solo artist. A recent revival thanks to the HBO show The Last of Us has brought a renewed interest to the track, but ‘Long, Long Time’ had always been something of a hidden gem within Ronstadt’s discography. 

‘You’re No Good’

One of Ronstadt’s most underrated talents was picking up long-forgotten songs that she could put her own stamp on. The journey to Ronstadt’s only number-one hit, ‘You’re No Good’ was more than a decade in the making. Originally recorded by Dee Dee Warwick in 1963, ‘You’re No Good’ went through a number of artists before finally landing with Ronstadt in 1974.

Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Ronstadt singing the song. With her brassy pipes and slight rock edge, Ronstadt brought a toughness and aggression to ‘You’re No Good’ that it hadn’t had before. A slick rock sound helped propel Ronstadt into superstardom, but she didn’t want to be stuck exclusively with the genre.

‘When Will I Be Loved’

The classic country harmonies of The Everly Brothers became an important stepping stone for rock music in the 1950s. Ronstadt herself was only 14 when the original version of ‘When Will I Be Loved’ was released, but that turned out to be the perfect age for her to capture the innocence and longing of the track. 

Backed up by singers Kenny Edwards and Andrew Gold, Ronstadt retains the harmonies found in the original track but ramps the song into a country-rock rave-up. The song went to number two on the Billboard Hot 100, meaning that Ronstadt just barely missed having consecutive number one singles from her Heart Like a Wheel album. 

‘Love Is a Rose’

Ronstadt was always on the prowl for new material. She had made inroads with just about every songwriter in Los Angeles, all of whom were more than happy to give Ronstadt their best material. But one of her most famous adaptations came from a rejected song by none other than Neil Young.

Young had recently scrapped his planned 1975 LP Homegrown when Ronstadt began gathering material for her album Prisoner in Disguise. ‘Love Is a Rose’ has Young’s distinctive honk, but Ronstadt’s flexible voice allows her to polish some of Young’s more thorny melodic tendencies (no pun intended). 

‘Desperado’

It wasn’t like ‘Desperado’ had tanked. The Eagles’ classic ballad was the emotional centrepiece of their 1973 concept album of the same, but it wasn’t released as a single. Ronstadt had helped assemble the Eagles, and as a thank you, the band was always willing to back Ronstadt up or provide her songs.

While Henley’s delicate performance is a classic, Ronstadt’s full-throated performance is the definitive version of the track. Ramping up the drama and tension as the song peaks into its final moments, Ronstadt unleashes what still might be her greatest vocal performance ever. ‘Desperado’ was made for Ronstadt, and the Eagles were smart enough to pass it along to her.

‘Tumbling Dice’

It took gall to cover The Rolling Stones. One of the most notorious bands of all time didn’t exactly have a host of material that suited women singers – it’s hard to imagine anyone busting out ‘Under My Thumb’ or ‘Stupid Girl’. ‘Tumbling Dice’ isn’t as explicitly male-forward as those songs, but it definitely leans into chauvinism.

On her cover, Ronstadt decided to cut the shit and make it her own immediately. Starting off a song with “People try to rape me / Always think I’m crazy” is one way to get the audience’s attention. But by the end of her take on the Stones’ classic Exile on Main St. track, it’s hard not to believe that Ronstadt could do anything she wanted. 

‘Wildflowers’

There’s something absolutely beautiful about voices that sing in perfect harmony. They don’t have to come from the same backgrounds or geography – when the right voices work together, there’s a magic that becomes obvious. Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Emmylou Harris worked in three distinct areas of country music, but it was completely natural when they came together.

‘Wildflowers’ brings everything back to the simplest of elements, replicating the roots of Parton’s Appalachian upbringing that formed the basis of the song. While Parton is the primary responsible party, it’s impossible to underestimate the importance of Ronstadt (and Harris, for that matter) on the sublime tones of ‘Wildflowers’.

‘Blue Bayou’

Roy Orbison turned out to be one of the perfect vessels for Ronstadt’s unique approach to music. Like Orbison, Ronstadt was a country crooner at heart who could blur the line between genres whenever it suited her. There was a realness in her yearning for simplicity in her songs, even if she didn’t write those songs herself.

‘Blue Bayou’ fits right into that tradition. A nostalgic ode to the stillness of southern life, ‘Blue Bayou’ was just waiting for someone like Ronstadt to take it to the global stage. Although Orbison’s tender voice is also perfect for the song, Ronstadt’s delicate approach to ‘Blue Bayou’ is what most people hear when they think of the song. 

‘Por Un Amor’

Ronstadt’s heritage extends back to Mexican businessman Federico José María Ronstadt, a pioneer in the expansion of Arizona as an American state. Ronstadt had always been aware of her heritage, but it wasn’t until 1987’s Canciones de Mi Padre that she decided to jump headfirst into traditional Mexican music.

Ronstadt’s comfort with the genre should come as no surprise – it’s in her blood, after all. But the delicate yearning in a song like ‘Por Un Amor’ shows that Ronstadt’s signature sound doesn’t depend on genre or even language. Ronstadt was one of the most powerful and adaptable voices of all time, and ‘Por Un Amor’ proves it better than any other track.

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