Bonnie Lynn Raitt (born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer-songwriter and slide

guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of roots-influenced albums which
incorporated elements of blues, rock, folkand country. In the 1990s she had a major return to
form with the release of her album "Nick of Time" after several years of critical acclaim but
little commercial success. The following two albums "Luck of the Draw" and "Longing in
Their Hearts" were also multi million sellers generating several hit singles including
"Something to Talk About", "Love Sneakin' Up on You", and the ballad "I Can't Make You
Love Me" (with Bruce Hornsby on piano). Raitt has received ten Grammy Awards. She is
listed as number 50 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All
Time
[1]
and number 89 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
[2]

Career[edit]
1970 to 1976[edit]
In the fall of 1970, while opening for Mississippi Fred McDowell at the Gaslight Cafe in New York,
she was seen by a reporter from Newsweek Magazine, who began to spread word of her
performance. Scouts from major record companies were soon attending her shows to watch her
play. She eventually accepted an offer with Warner Bros. who soon released her debut
album, Bonnie Raitt, in 1971. The album was warmly received by the music press, many of whom
praised her skills as an interpreter and as a bottleneck guitarist; at the time, very few women in
popular music had strong reputations as guitarists.
While admired by those who saw her perform, and respected by her peers, Raitt gained little public
acclaim for her work. Her critical stature continued to grow but record sales remained modest. Her
second album, Give It Up, was released in 1972 to universal acclaim; though many critics still regard
it as her best work, it did not change her commercial fortunes. 1973'sTakin' My Time was also met
with critical acclaim, but these notices were not matched by the sales.
Raitt was beginning to receive greater press coverage, including a 1975 cover story for Rolling
Stone Magazine, but with1974's Streetlights, reviews for her work were becoming increasingly
mixed. By now, Raitt was already experimenting with different producers and different styles, and
she began to adopt a more mainstream sound that continued through 1975'sHome Plate.
In 1976, Raitt made an appearance on Warren Zevon's eponymous album with his friend Jackson
Browne and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
1977 to 1988: Commercial breakthrough[edit]


Raitt performing at the Berkeley Community Theater, 19761977
1977's Sweet Forgiveness album gave Raitt her first commercial breakthrough when it yielded a hit
single in her cover of "Runaway." Recast as a heavy rhythm and blues recording based on a
rhythmic groove inspired by Al Green, Raitt's version of "Runaway" was disparaged by many critics.
However, the song's commercial success prompted a bidding war for Raitt between Warner
Bros. andColumbia Records. "There was this big Columbia Warner war going on at the time",
recalled Raitt in a 1990 interview. "James Taylor had just left Warner Bros. and made a big album for
Columbia...And then, Warner signed Paul Simon away from Columbia, and they didn't want me to
have a hit record for Columbia no matter what! So, I renegotiated my contract, and they basically
matched Columbia's offer. Frankly the deal was a really big deal."
Warner Brothers held higher expectations for Raitt's next album, The Glow in 1979, but it was
released to poor reviews as well as modest sales. Raitt would have one commercial success in 1979
when she helped organize the five Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) concerts at Madison
Square Garden in New York City. The shows spawned the a three-record gold album as well as a
Warner Brothers feature film, No Nukes. The shows featured co-founders Jackson Browne, Graham
Nash, John Hall, and Raitt as well as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The
Doobie Brothers, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Gil Scott-Heron, and numerous others.
For her next record, 1982's Green Light, Raitt made a conscious attempt to revisit the sound of her
earlier records. However, to her surprise, many of her peers and the media compared her new
sound to the burgeoning New Wavemovement. The album received her strongest reviews in years,
but her sales did not improve and this would have a severe impact on her relationship with Warner
Brothers.
Drop from Warner Brothers[edit]
In 1983, as Raitt was finishing work on her follow-up album, entitled Tongue & Groove, Warner
Brothers "cleaned house", dropping a number of major artists such as Van Morrison and Arlo
Guthrie from their roster. The day after mastering was completed on Tongue & Groove, the record
label dropped Raitt also. The album was shelved indefinitely, and Raitt was left without a record
label. By then, Raitt was also struggling with alcohol and drug abuse problems.
[5]

Despite her personal and professional problems, Raitt continued to tour and participate in political
activism. In 1985, she sang and appeared in the video of "Sun City", the anti-apartheid record written
and produced by guitarist Steven Van Zandt. Along with her participation in Farm Aid and Amnesty
International concerts, Raitt traveled to Moscow in 1987 to participate in the first joint
Soviet/American Peace Concert, later shown on the Showtime television network. Also in 1987, Raitt
organized a benefit in Los Angeles for Countdown '87 to Stop Contra Aid. The benefit featured
herself along with musiciansDon Henley, Herbie Hancock, Holly Near and others.
Tongue and Groove's name change and release[edit]


Raitt at the 1990 Grammy Awards
Two years after dropping her from their label, Warner Brothers notified Raitt of their plans to
release Tongue & Groove. "I said it wasn't really fair," recalled Raitt. "I think at this point they felt kind
of bad. I mean, I was out there touring on my savings to keep my name up, and my ability to draw
was less and less. So they agreed to let me go in and recut half of it, and that's when it came out
as Nine Lives." A critical and commercial disappointment, 1986's Nine Lives would be Raitt's last
new recording for Warner Brothers.
In late 1987, Raitt joined singers k.d. lang and Jennifer Warnes as female background vocals
for Roy Orbison's television special, Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. Following
this highly acclaimed broadcast, Raitt began working on new material. By then, Raitt was clean and
sober, having resolved her substance abuseproblem. She later credited Stevie Ray Vaughan for his
help in a Minnesota State Fairconcert
[6]
the night after Vaughan's 1990 death. During this time, Raitt
considered signing with Prince's own label, Paisley Park, but negotiations ultimately fell through.
Instead she began recording a bluesy mix of pop and rock under the production guidance of Don
Was at Capitol Records.
Raitt had met Was through Hal Wilner, who was putting together Stay Awake, a tribute album
to Disney music for A&M. Was and Wilner both wanted Raitt to sing lead on an adult-contemporary
arrangement created by Was for "Baby Mine", thelullaby from Dumbo. Raitt was very pleased with
the sessions, and she asked Was to produce her next album.
1989 to 1995: Increased recognition[edit]
After nearly 20 years, Bonnie Raitt achieved belated commercial success with her tenth album, Nick
of Time. Released in the spring of 1989, Nick of Time went to the top of the U.S. charts following
Raitt's Grammy sweep in early 1990. This album has been voted number 230 in the Rolling Stone
magazine list of 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. Raitt herself pointed out that her 10th try was "my
first sober album."
[7]

At the same time, Raitt received a fourth Grammy Award for her duet "In the Mood" with John Lee
Hooker on his album The Healer. Nick of Time was also the first of many of her recordings to feature
her longtime rhythm section of Ricky Fataar andJames "Hutch" Hutchinson (Although previously
Fataar had played on her Green Light album and Hutchinson had worked on Nine Lives). Nick of
Time has sold over six million copies in the US alone.
Raitt followed up this success with three more Grammy Awards for her 1991 album, Luck of the
Draw which sold nearly 8 million copies in the United States. Three years later, in 1994, she added
two more Grammys with her album Longing In Their Hearts, her second no. 1 album. Both of these
albums were multi-platinum successes. Raitt's collaboration with Was would amicably come to an
end with 1995's live release, Road Tested. Released to solid reviews, it sold well enough to be
certified gold.
For her next studio album, Raitt hired Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake as her producers. "I loved
working with Don Was but I wanted to give myself and my fans a stretch and do something
different," Raitt said. Her work with Froom and Blake was released on Fundamental in 1998.
1996 to 2007[edit]


Raitt performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, April 23, 2004
In March 2000, Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
Silver Lining was released in 2002. In the US, it reached 13 on the Billboard chart and was later
certified Gold. It contains the 3 singles "I Can't Help You Now", "Time of Our Lives" and the title
track. All 3 singles charted within the top 40 of the US A/C chart.
In 2003 Capitol Records released the compilation album The Best of Bonnie Raitt. It contains songs
from her prior Capitol albums from 1989 - 2002 including Nick of Time,Luck of the Draw, Longing in
Their Hearts, Road Tested, Fundamental, and Silver Lining.
Souls Alike followed and was released in September 2005. In the US, it reached the top 20 on the
Billboard chart. It contains the singles "I Will Not Be Broken" and "I Don't Want Anything to Change",
which both charted in the top 40 of the US A/C chart.
In 2006 she released the live album Bonnie Raitt and Friends. Special guests include Keb Mo',
Alison Krauss, Ben Harper, Jon Cleary and Norah Jones.
Australian Country Music Artist Graeme Connors has said, "Bonnie Raitt does something with a lyric
no one else can do; she bends it and twists it right into your heart." (ABC Radio NSW Australia
interview with Interviewer Chris Coleman on 18 January 2007)
[8]

In 2007, Raitt contributed to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. With Jon Cleary, she sang a
medley of "I'm in Love Again" and "All by Myself" of Fats Domino.
2008 to Present[edit]
Raitt appeared on the June 7, 2008 broadcast of Garrison Keillor's radio program "A Prairie Home
Companion". She performed two blues songs with Kevin "Keb' Mo'" Moore: "No Getting Over You"
and "There Ain't Nothin' in Ramblin'." Raitt also sang Dimming of the Day with Richard Thompson.
This show, along with another one which Raitt with her band in October 2006, is archived on the
Prairie Home Companion web site.
In February 2012, Raitt performed a duet with Alicia Keys at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012
honoring Etta James.
In April 2012, Raitt released her first studio album since 2005 entitled Slipstream. It c