Linda Ronstadt Gets Booed in Vegas
Ronstadt Praises 'Fahrenheit,' Gets Booed
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
LAS VEGAS — Singer Linda Ronstadt (search) not only got booed, she got the boot after lauding filmmaker Michael Moore and his new movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" (search) during a performance at the Aladdin hotel-casino.
Before singing "Desperado" for an encore Saturday night, the 58-year-old rocker called Moore a "great American patriot" and "someone who is spreading the truth." She also encouraged everybody to see the documentary about President Bush (search).
Ronstadt's comments drew loud boos and some of the 4,500 people in attendance stormed out of the theater. People also tore down concert posters and tossed cocktails into the air.
"It was a very ugly scene," Aladdin President Bill Timmins told The Associated Press. "She praised him and all of a sudden all bedlam broke loose."
Timmins, who is British and was watching the show, decided Ronstadt had to go — for good. Timmins said he didn't allow Ronstadt back in her luxury suite and she was escorted off the property. Ronstadt's antics "spoiled a wonderful evening for our guests and we had to do something about it," Timmins said.
Timmins said it was the first time he sent a performer packing. "As long as I'm here, she's not going to play," Timmins said. Ronstadt had been booked to play the Aladdin for only one show.
Calls to Ronstadt's manager were not immediately returned.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal before the show, Ronstadt said "I keep hoping that if I'm annoying enough to them, they won't hire me back."
Looks like she got her wish.
See Linda Ronstadt's comments on Republicans and Christians below - in Red
The real deal
Linda Ronstadt's current tour – 'a history lesson of music' – reflects her dedication to authenticity, and quality
By George Varga July 15, 2004 - SignOn San Diego article
Find this article at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040715/news_lz1w15linda.html
Other singers may have a greater passion for music than Linda Ronstadt. But few have a greater passion for more types of music, or the willingness to perform them, even at the risk of falling on her face. "I've done that a couple of times," acknowledged Ronstadt with a knowing chuckle. "But my motto in life is: You don't have to be original, you have to be authentic. "So all the music (styles) I've sung professionally I sang in my living room in Tucson by the time I was 10, either after being tempted by my brother and sister (Mike and Suzi, both musicians), or things I heard on the radio," continued the veteran vocal star, who performs a sold-out concert here Sunday at Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay with the Baltimore Symphony.
"And the stuff that I admired I couldn't help but try. The stuff I had the hardest time with required serious training, like classical music. It's really hard to fake classical! But I heard it so much as a kid, and loved it so much, that I would have taken it as a career path if I hadn't moved to Los Angeles and also liked folk music as much."
–GEORGE VARGA"I think the biggest risk I took was trying to sing rock 'n' roll, because it comes to me least authentically. Unfortunately, it came to dominate me and I had to throw it off," Ronstadt said, speaking from the San Francisco condo she and her two adopted children live in when they're not at home in Tucson.
"So it was safer to come back to Mexican music and the music I sang as a child. My favorite thing to do is ballads, and you can't do that all night (because) people come with their cultural prejudices. Plus, they remember taking acid to something you did in 1975, and that's what they want to hear."
What Ronstadt wanted to hear, and perform, is anything and everything that struck her fancy.
She's done precisely that for the past four decades, singing avant-jazz on Carla Bley's 1971 opus "Escalator Over the Hill," minimalistic tone poems with Philip Glass on 1986's "Liquid Days," and African-tinged pop the same year on Paul Simon's landmark "Graceland" album.
She performed the Puccini opera "La Boheme," starred in a Broadway production of "The Pirates of Penzance," and made three albums of impeccably orchestrated jazz standards with famed arranger Nelson Riddle. And she's collaborated with everyone from country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton and Latin music maverick Ruben Blades to the Chieftains, ex-Kinks guitarist Dave Davies and Tex-Mex conjunto accordionist Flaco Jimenez.
"My career has befuddled other people, and it's befuddled me," admitted Ronstadt, 58, who finds her fans are polarized by her nightly on-stage salute to "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore. "I've been dedicating a song to him – I think he's a great patriot – and it splits the audience down the middle, and they duke it out," she said. "This is an election year, and I think we're in desperate trouble and it's time for people to speak up and not pipe down. It's a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I'd rather not know."
Ronstadt calls her current tour with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra "a history lesson of music," although the emphasis is more on sophisticated entertainment than dry education.
"I'm doing the entire 20th-century American songbook," she explained. "It's a lot to put on an audience, and it's been interesting. In some places they favor the standards I sing; in others they go nuts at the end when I do my hits. Some react more to the Billy Strayhorn song I do ('Lush Life'), and some don't know what to think of it at all.
"But I don't give them what they want at the expense of singing a song I hate, or a song I've outgrown. I won't sing 'You're No Good.' I thought it was a well-structured song (when I recorded it), even though my vocals were completely suck-worthy."
Ronstadt's tour offers a retrospective of her career, although it skips her mariachi music forays and her shimmering duets with Emmylou Harris. It also excludes any examples of her more esoteric collaborations with the likes of Frank Zappa, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, bluegrass mainstays the Seldom Scene and the three Davids (Bromberg, Lindley and Sanborn).
"When I did the Mexican stuff (on tour) I got a completely different audience and they were the most satisfying. They really knew the music, and knew when to respond and when to be quiet," Ronstadt said.
"I never listen to my albums. I can only look at the next thing coming up, music without me included. Because music is just music to me, whether it's going through my mouth or someone else's, or through their instrument."
Ronstadt gets audience walkout encore
By Bonita Brewer - CONTRA COSTA TIMES
LIVERMORE - Linda Ronstadt's political message sent close to a hundred concert-goers home early Thursday evening. What had been a mellow evening at Wente Vineyards, with the crowd even serenading her with "Happy Birthday" at one point, turned into a rush for the exits by some fans angry by her encore tribute to filmmaker Michael Moore.
"She just had to do it," one fan steamed as he headed for the parking lot. "It was good until the end," another yelled to TV crews waiting outside the concert. "She's getting out of line; it's ridiculous," said Cindy Williams of Livermore, as she left during the last song of the evening.
Ronstadt's encore dedication of the song "Desperado" to Moore, the controversial maker of "Fahrenheit 9/11" who she described Thursday as "a great American patriot," got her booted from a Las Vegas casino Saturday and drew cheers, some boos, and a few "traitor" yells from the Livermore crowd.
Until that last song, the concert had been an evening of good music and happy fans.
There was no shortage of conflicting opinions among the baby-boomer crowd, a sprinkling of them dressed in patriotic colors, but it was no referendum on the war in Iraq, no pro- or anti-Bush lovefest, or even a meeting of the Michael Moore fan club. Concert-goers, who paid from $99 to $249 each for tickets, were well aware of the controversy, but said they just wanted to enjoy the songs.
"I love her music, but I hate her politics, and I hope she just sings," said Tina Uzelac of Livermore, who arrived wearing a flag sweater. "These tickets are pretty high-priced, and we're not paying to go to a political rally."
On Saturday, Ronstadt was booed by some audience members at the Aladdin hotel-casino, then booted from the hotel by management after dedicating her "Desperado" encore to Moore and his film,, which excoriates President Bush over the war in Iraq. Ronstadt won over the Livermore crowd after her first jazzy number, backed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
"Normally we end the show with 'Desperado,' but tonight we'll end with 'Viva Las Vegas,'" the singer said, drawing laughs, a long, warm cheer and a few grunts from the crowd of 1,750.
"There are too many Republicans in Vegas," Mike Donnelly of Clayton said before the show. "I think the response (to her remarks) has been ridiculous and ludicrous."
Corey and Susan Tate of Livermore came to the concert with a gift for Ronstadt -- an American flag, with a note on its paper wrapper: "To Linda, a patriot. Bless you." "I've been listening to Linda since 1967. She has been a standard-bearer for liberal causes, and I'm glad she spoke up ... People like her represent America; it's not just people with conservative views," Corey Tate said.
The controversy created a sellout, said Wente president Carolyn Wente.
About 20 people angered by Ronstadt's comments dropped plans to attend, but their traded-in tickets were snatched up and the show was sold out Wednesday. "It was just a handful (turning in tickets) when you consider there are 1,700 folks coming," Wente said before the show.
Wente said she did not ask Ronstadt to refrain from any political comments.
"We don't take any position on any of our artists' political thoughts or perceptions," she said.
With her comments Saturday, Ronstadt became the latest liberal musician to use the stage for political views, and another to suffer conservative backlash.
• In March 2003, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines' comments against Bush and the Iraq war triggered a boycott by a group of more than 200 radio stations.
• At a recent John Kerry fund-raiser, actress Whoopi Goldberg made several crude puns on Bush's name, and complaints led to her firing as a spokeswoman for Florida-based Slim-Fast.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
LAS VEGAS — Singer Linda Ronstadt (search) not only got booed, she got the boot after lauding filmmaker Michael Moore and his new movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" (search) during a performance at the Aladdin hotel-casino.
Before singing "Desperado" for an encore Saturday night, the 58-year-old rocker called Moore a "great American patriot" and "someone who is spreading the truth." She also encouraged everybody to see the documentary about President Bush (search).
Ronstadt's comments drew loud boos and some of the 4,500 people in attendance stormed out of the theater. People also tore down concert posters and tossed cocktails into the air.
"It was a very ugly scene," Aladdin President Bill Timmins told The Associated Press. "She praised him and all of a sudden all bedlam broke loose."
Timmins, who is British and was watching the show, decided Ronstadt had to go — for good. Timmins said he didn't allow Ronstadt back in her luxury suite and she was escorted off the property. Ronstadt's antics "spoiled a wonderful evening for our guests and we had to do something about it," Timmins said.
Timmins said it was the first time he sent a performer packing. "As long as I'm here, she's not going to play," Timmins said. Ronstadt had been booked to play the Aladdin for only one show.
Calls to Ronstadt's manager were not immediately returned.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal before the show, Ronstadt said "I keep hoping that if I'm annoying enough to them, they won't hire me back."
Looks like she got her wish.
See Linda Ronstadt's comments on Republicans and Christians below - in Red
The real deal
Linda Ronstadt's current tour – 'a history lesson of music' – reflects her dedication to authenticity, and quality
By George Varga July 15, 2004 - SignOn San Diego article
Find this article at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040715/news_lz1w15linda.html
Other singers may have a greater passion for music than Linda Ronstadt. But few have a greater passion for more types of music, or the willingness to perform them, even at the risk of falling on her face. "I've done that a couple of times," acknowledged Ronstadt with a knowing chuckle. "But my motto in life is: You don't have to be original, you have to be authentic. "So all the music (styles) I've sung professionally I sang in my living room in Tucson by the time I was 10, either after being tempted by my brother and sister (Mike and Suzi, both musicians), or things I heard on the radio," continued the veteran vocal star, who performs a sold-out concert here Sunday at Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay with the Baltimore Symphony.
"And the stuff that I admired I couldn't help but try. The stuff I had the hardest time with required serious training, like classical music. It's really hard to fake classical! But I heard it so much as a kid, and loved it so much, that I would have taken it as a career path if I hadn't moved to Los Angeles and also liked folk music as much."
–GEORGE VARGA"I think the biggest risk I took was trying to sing rock 'n' roll, because it comes to me least authentically. Unfortunately, it came to dominate me and I had to throw it off," Ronstadt said, speaking from the San Francisco condo she and her two adopted children live in when they're not at home in Tucson.
"So it was safer to come back to Mexican music and the music I sang as a child. My favorite thing to do is ballads, and you can't do that all night (because) people come with their cultural prejudices. Plus, they remember taking acid to something you did in 1975, and that's what they want to hear."
What Ronstadt wanted to hear, and perform, is anything and everything that struck her fancy.
She's done precisely that for the past four decades, singing avant-jazz on Carla Bley's 1971 opus "Escalator Over the Hill," minimalistic tone poems with Philip Glass on 1986's "Liquid Days," and African-tinged pop the same year on Paul Simon's landmark "Graceland" album.
She performed the Puccini opera "La Boheme," starred in a Broadway production of "The Pirates of Penzance," and made three albums of impeccably orchestrated jazz standards with famed arranger Nelson Riddle. And she's collaborated with everyone from country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton and Latin music maverick Ruben Blades to the Chieftains, ex-Kinks guitarist Dave Davies and Tex-Mex conjunto accordionist Flaco Jimenez.
"My career has befuddled other people, and it's befuddled me," admitted Ronstadt, 58, who finds her fans are polarized by her nightly on-stage salute to "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore. "I've been dedicating a song to him – I think he's a great patriot – and it splits the audience down the middle, and they duke it out," she said. "This is an election year, and I think we're in desperate trouble and it's time for people to speak up and not pipe down. It's a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I'd rather not know."
Ronstadt calls her current tour with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra "a history lesson of music," although the emphasis is more on sophisticated entertainment than dry education.
"I'm doing the entire 20th-century American songbook," she explained. "It's a lot to put on an audience, and it's been interesting. In some places they favor the standards I sing; in others they go nuts at the end when I do my hits. Some react more to the Billy Strayhorn song I do ('Lush Life'), and some don't know what to think of it at all.
"But I don't give them what they want at the expense of singing a song I hate, or a song I've outgrown. I won't sing 'You're No Good.' I thought it was a well-structured song (when I recorded it), even though my vocals were completely suck-worthy."
Ronstadt's tour offers a retrospective of her career, although it skips her mariachi music forays and her shimmering duets with Emmylou Harris. It also excludes any examples of her more esoteric collaborations with the likes of Frank Zappa, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, bluegrass mainstays the Seldom Scene and the three Davids (Bromberg, Lindley and Sanborn).
"When I did the Mexican stuff (on tour) I got a completely different audience and they were the most satisfying. They really knew the music, and knew when to respond and when to be quiet," Ronstadt said.
"I never listen to my albums. I can only look at the next thing coming up, music without me included. Because music is just music to me, whether it's going through my mouth or someone else's, or through their instrument."
Ronstadt gets audience walkout encore
By Bonita Brewer - CONTRA COSTA TIMES
LIVERMORE - Linda Ronstadt's political message sent close to a hundred concert-goers home early Thursday evening. What had been a mellow evening at Wente Vineyards, with the crowd even serenading her with "Happy Birthday" at one point, turned into a rush for the exits by some fans angry by her encore tribute to filmmaker Michael Moore.
"She just had to do it," one fan steamed as he headed for the parking lot. "It was good until the end," another yelled to TV crews waiting outside the concert. "She's getting out of line; it's ridiculous," said Cindy Williams of Livermore, as she left during the last song of the evening.
Ronstadt's encore dedication of the song "Desperado" to Moore, the controversial maker of "Fahrenheit 9/11" who she described Thursday as "a great American patriot," got her booted from a Las Vegas casino Saturday and drew cheers, some boos, and a few "traitor" yells from the Livermore crowd.
Until that last song, the concert had been an evening of good music and happy fans.
There was no shortage of conflicting opinions among the baby-boomer crowd, a sprinkling of them dressed in patriotic colors, but it was no referendum on the war in Iraq, no pro- or anti-Bush lovefest, or even a meeting of the Michael Moore fan club. Concert-goers, who paid from $99 to $249 each for tickets, were well aware of the controversy, but said they just wanted to enjoy the songs.
"I love her music, but I hate her politics, and I hope she just sings," said Tina Uzelac of Livermore, who arrived wearing a flag sweater. "These tickets are pretty high-priced, and we're not paying to go to a political rally."
On Saturday, Ronstadt was booed by some audience members at the Aladdin hotel-casino, then booted from the hotel by management after dedicating her "Desperado" encore to Moore and his film,, which excoriates President Bush over the war in Iraq. Ronstadt won over the Livermore crowd after her first jazzy number, backed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
"Normally we end the show with 'Desperado,' but tonight we'll end with 'Viva Las Vegas,'" the singer said, drawing laughs, a long, warm cheer and a few grunts from the crowd of 1,750.
"There are too many Republicans in Vegas," Mike Donnelly of Clayton said before the show. "I think the response (to her remarks) has been ridiculous and ludicrous."
Corey and Susan Tate of Livermore came to the concert with a gift for Ronstadt -- an American flag, with a note on its paper wrapper: "To Linda, a patriot. Bless you." "I've been listening to Linda since 1967. She has been a standard-bearer for liberal causes, and I'm glad she spoke up ... People like her represent America; it's not just people with conservative views," Corey Tate said.
The controversy created a sellout, said Wente president Carolyn Wente.
About 20 people angered by Ronstadt's comments dropped plans to attend, but their traded-in tickets were snatched up and the show was sold out Wednesday. "It was just a handful (turning in tickets) when you consider there are 1,700 folks coming," Wente said before the show.
Wente said she did not ask Ronstadt to refrain from any political comments.
"We don't take any position on any of our artists' political thoughts or perceptions," she said.
With her comments Saturday, Ronstadt became the latest liberal musician to use the stage for political views, and another to suffer conservative backlash.
• In March 2003, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines' comments against Bush and the Iraq war triggered a boycott by a group of more than 200 radio stations.
• At a recent John Kerry fund-raiser, actress Whoopi Goldberg made several crude puns on Bush's name, and complaints led to her firing as a spokeswoman for Florida-based Slim-Fast.