Bonnie Raitt, Slide Guitar Master, Singer and Songwriter, Turns 70

Don’t tell Bonnie Raitt she can’t keep up with the guys and their electric guitars…she’s been doing it quite well for 50 years

Bonnie Raitt released her debut album when she was 21 covering the music of Blues legends, Robert Johnson and Mississippi Fred McDowell.

She became a road warrior and has toured constantly for her entire career, has dealt with the ups and downs of the music industry and wrestled with drugs and alcohol. It was fellow guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan, who gave her the inspiration to get clean and sober, just in time for her career to take off at the age of 40.

Just as she was an unlikely Blues artist, she was even more unlikely to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year when she was 20 years into her recording career.

The album “Nick of Time” received that prestigious award that she worked on that album with producer, Don Was. They both recall what it was like the night they received that award from Ella Fitzgerald and Natalie Cole, a night that changed Bonnie Raitt and Don Was’ lives forever.

Click on the player above to hear Ann Delisi profile Bonnie Raitt. 

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Author

  • Ann Delisi
    Ann Delisi hosts Essential Music, the Essential Conversations podcast series and the Essential Cooking broadcast and podcast. Born and raised in the Motor City, Ann is a broadcaster, interviewer, producer, music host, storyteller and proud Detroiter.