Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Burbank, United States. Born in 1949, she is associated with blues, blue-eyed soul, blues rock, folk, pop rock, rock, country and singer-songwriter music. She is the daughter of Broadway musical star John Raitt.

Early life and education

Raitt begins playing guitar at an early age and performs at school and camp before deciding to pursue music professionally. She grows up in a Quaker family and describes that background as a political calling. In 1967 she enters Radcliffe College at Harvard, where she majors in African Studies and plans to travel to Tanzania to work on issues linked to democracy, socialism and the effects of colonialism.

Early career

While at Harvard, Raitt meets blues promoter Dick Waterman after hearing that he is giving an interview at the college radio station WHRB. The two become friends, and through him she becomes part of a blues community in Cambridge and Philadelphia. She takes time away from college and performs with musicians in Philadelphia, later returning to school before taking a leave of absence to tour with The Rolling Stones.

By this period she is performing in folk and rhythm and blues clubs in the Boston area and appearing with blues musicians including Howlin' Wolf, Sippie Wallace and Mississippi Fred McDowell. In 1970, while opening for Fred McDowell at the Gaslight Cafe in New York, she attracts wider industry attention and is soon signed by Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. years

Raitt's self-titled debut album appears in 1971 and is followed by Give It Up in 1972, Takin' My Time in 1973, Streetlights in 1974 and Home Plate in 1975. Her early records receive strong critical notice, especially for her interpretation and bottleneck guitar playing, but commercial success remains limited.

In 1976 she appears on Warren Zevon's self-titled album alongside Jackson Browne, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Her 1977 album Sweet Forgiveness brings her first commercial breakthrough with a hit cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway", rearranged as a heavy R&B performance. Warner Bros. and Columbia Records then compete for her contract, and she renegotiates to stay with Warner Bros.

The Glow follows in 1979, then she helps organise the MUSE concerts at Madison Square Garden that year. Those shows lead to a three-record gold album and the feature film No Nukes. In 1982, Green Light receives her strongest reviews in years, but sales do not improve. Warner Bros. drops her in 1983 after she finishes work on Tongue & Groove, which is shelved before later being issued in revised form as Nine Lives in 1986. She continues to tour during a period when she is also dealing with alcohol and drug abuse.

Activism and collaborations

Raitt remains active in political and benefit work throughout the 1980s. In 1985 she sings and appears in the video for "Sun City", the anti-apartheid record produced and written by Steven Van Zandt. She also takes part in Farm Aid and Amnesty International concerts, travels to Moscow for a Soviet-American Peace Concert in 1987, and organises a Los Angeles benefit for Countdown '87 to Stop Contra Aid.

In late 1987 she joins k.d. lang and Jennifer Warnes as backing vocalists for Roy Orbison's television special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. Around this time she becomes clean and sober.

Commercial success and later work

Raitt records for Capitol Records with producer Don Was after working with him on a version of "Baby Mine" for the tribute album Stay Awake. Their collaboration leads to Nick of Time in 1989, which reaches the top of the U.S. charts and wins three Grammy Awards. She also wins a Grammy for her duet with John Lee Hooker, "In the Mood", from his album The Healer.

She follows with Luck of the Draw in 1991, which wins three more Grammy Awards, and Longing in Their Hearts in 1994, which adds two more. Both albums become multiplatinum. Her live album Road Tested appears in 1995 and earns gold certification. She later works with Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake on Fundamental in 1998. In 2000 she is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Silver Lining follows in 2002 and Souls Alike in 2005.

Associated acts and labels

Her work is associated with Warner Bros., Capitol Records and Redwing Records. Other credited associated acts include Various Artists for Children’s Promise, Doug Legacy & The Legends of the West, and Roy Orbison and Friends.