Raitt, Bonnie

▪ American musician

in full  Bonnie Lynn Raitt 

born November 8, 1949, Burbank, California, U.S.

      American singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose wide musical range encompassed blues, folk, rhythm and blues, pop, and country rock. Touring and recording with some of the leading session musicians and songwriters of her day, she became a successful recording artist in the 1970s but did not achieve stardom until 1990, when she won four Grammy Awards—three for her 10th album, Nick of Time.

      Raised in Los Angeles by Quaker parents who were active in music and liberal politics (her father was Broadway musical star John Raitt), Raitt attended Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1967 to 1969 but dropped out to join the East Coast blues and folk music scene. From the start of her career, she played alongside classic blues performers such as Sippie Wallace and Arthur (“Big Boy”) Crudup (Crudup, Arthur) as well as folk rock contemporaries such as Jackson Browne (Browne, Jackson) and Little Feat. Her first three albums largely comprised traditional blues material and introduced Raitt's supple phrasing, feminist stance, and keen abilities as a slide guitarist. In 1973 she began recording more-polished pop material, culminating in her first hit single, a 1977 reworking of Del Shannon (Shannon, Del)'s “Runaway.” Raitt toured extensively and remained politically active, often performing at high-profile charity concerts, such as the 1979 antinuclear benefit sponsored by Musicians United for Safe Energy, an organization she cofounded. Her career declined somewhat in the 1980s as she struggled with alcoholism but soared again when her 1989 release, Nick of Time (produced by Don Was), reached the top of the charts in 1990 following its Grammy success. Her popularity continued with the release of a retrospective later in 1990 and then Luck of the Draw (1991) and Longing in Their Hearts (1994), both of which received Grammy Awards. Other albums include the double-disc Road Tested (1995), a live recording, and Fundamental (1998). Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

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