Linda Ronstadt Passed Up Marriage For Her Music And She Has No Regrets
Linda Ronstadt’s career, as both a solo singer and a member of the Stone Poneys, is frankly legendary. After all, there aren’t many artists in history who have sold more than 100 million records! She was a fixture in the charts for five decades, before finally bowing out of the limelight after a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Her personal life has always fascinated fans and the industry, though, as she often seemed to prioritize music over relationships — and she had some strong opinions on marriage.
A mixed heritage
Ronstadt came into the world on July 15, 1946, in Tucson, Arizona. Her father was part of a famous ranching family in the region and was of Mexican descent. He had a German ancestor, though, hence the surname “Ronstadt.” Her mother was from Michigan, and had English, Dutch, and German ancestry.
It was this mix of lineages, and her light skin, that meant for much of her early career, people always seemed surprised about Ronstadt’s Mexican heritage, despite the fact she never hid it.
Being upfront
For instance, she once told The Guardian, “Back in 1967 Tiger Beat magazine asked me what my ambition was for my career. I said I want to become a really good Mexican singer. But it wasn’t noticed or validated.”
In the ‘70s, she told Rolling Stone about the most significant influence on her singing — Mexican artist Lola Beltrán — but the magazine spelled her name, “Laura Del Turone.” Ronstadt lamented, “They didn’t bother to get her name right, because they didn’t think it mattered.”
“Mexican-Americans are made to feel invisible”
In the ’80s, Ronstadt even appeared on The Today Show in traditional Mexican clothing, while promoting a Spanish-language album entitled Canciones de Mi Padre of well-known Mexican songs. This would seem to have made her heritage as obvious as possible, but still the host asked if her dad was half-Mexican.
Ronstadt replied, “Actually, he’s all Mexican,” and in 2022 confessed, “She was trying to soften the blow of the word ‘Mexican.’ That’s typical of what happens. Mexican-Americans are always made to feel invisible.”
Passing as “white” led to issues
We’ve mentioned all this to demonstrate how Ronstadt has always been upfront and proud about her Mexican heritage, and about Mexican culture in general. It’s why it has been such a source of frustration over the years that her light skin seemed to cause people to cast it aside.
In fact, passing as “white” also meant Ronstadt often had to deal with people being disparaging about her people, and often right to her face. She admitted, “People didn’t have a clue I was Mexican unless they grew up with me. I heard plenty of it. I’d straighten them out fast.”