Linda Ronstadt is one of the most versatile musicians to have ever walked the planet. Country music, pop, rock, opera, Mexican folk music—her resume is crazily full of wide-ranging, bold leaps into all corners of the musical landscape.
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, with her full participation, covers her career from her Tucson, Ariz., roots, through her band The Stone Poneys, and on through her amazing solo career.
Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Don Henley, Jackson Browne and many others sit down for interviews—and it slowly hits you that, dammit, this is one amazing entertainer, perhaps more amazing than you realized during her heyday.
Ronstadt has basically retired, having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but that doesn’t stop her from offering up a jewel at the end of this movie—a short but very sweet moment of her singing with friends. This documentary is nothing unusual from a filmmaking standpoint, but it is a treasure trove of Ronstadt performances, and a consistently enjoyable historical study of a great gift to the music world.
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice opens Friday, Sept. 13, at the Camelot Theatres at the Palm Springs Cultural Center (2300 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs; 760-325-6565); and at the Palm Desert 10 Cinemas (72840 Highway 111, Palm Desert; 760-340-0033).