Voiceless Linda Ronstadt Recalls Early Opera Memories Of Childhood

In December 2012, Ronstadt was diagnosed with Parkinson's 
disease, which left her unable to sing. It was announced publicly
 in August 2013.

"Her deepest roots are musical. Ronstadt's paternal grandfather was a brass-band leader. Her father, a baritone, played her 78-rpm records of Grieg's Peer Gynt and the flamenco singer Pastora Pavón and took her to one of the few movies she saw as a child, Verdi's opera Aida. Her brother Peter was a boy soprano. Family singing, in a house with no TV until Ronstadt was in fifth grade, was the most readily available source of entertainment. It may also be the wellspring of her celebrated gift for harmonizing, exquisitely realized decades later in her three-part singing with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton and duets with the Cajun singer Ann Savoy. The strict Catholic school she attended turned Ronstadt off formal education. A natural autodidact, she became a voluminous reader, with interests that range from Victorian novels to architecture to politics. Even as she enrolled at the University of Arizona, Ronstadt knew it wasn't for long. She dropped out after a semester and headed for Los Angeles at 18 to seek her musical fortune."[Source]

Is Patricia Racette Singing Music Of Linda Ronstadt A Possibility?

Prior to the announcement of Great Voices Sings John Denver, web viewers were treated to a glimpse into the recording studio for this project via YouTube. As you watch one opera star after another "crossing over" to the pop art form, one stands strongly out from the rest: Patricia Racette. There is something about the placement of her voice and the inflection she projects that is reminiscent of a young Linda Ronstadt. So why not forget John Denver and delve deeper into a female artist's song catalog that is ripe for a rich-voiced diva? Recently, Ms. Racette released a CD of a live cabaret concert titled Diva on Detour that showcased her non-operatic abilities. Would it be too much of a stretch to hear her apply that smoky chest voice to covers of such

Opera glove ready: Linda Ronstadt

ballads as "Blue Bayou," "You're No Good," "That'll Be The Day," "When Will I Be Loved," or "Faithless Love?" As for Linda Ronstadt, it wouldn't be hard to imagine having an opera singer cover her greatest hits, after all she's a fan of great divas: "Of Maria Callas, Ronstadt says, 'There's no one in her league. That's it. Period. I learn more....about singing rock n roll from listening to Maria Callas records than I ever would from listening to pop music for a month of Sundays....She's the greatest chick singer ever.' She admires Callas for her musicianship and her attempts to push 20th-century singing, particularly opera, back into the Bel canto 'natural style of singing'." Plus Ms. Racette and Ms. Ronstadt have both sung the role of Mimi in La Bohème, so maybe it is fate. Only time will tell. [Source] 

Malea McGuinness Turns Opera Training Into Pop Success

Malea McGuinness, a talented pop/rock singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles, CA, has won the SingerUniverse “Best Vocalist Of The Month” Competition for January, for her song “Memories.” This song is included on McGuinness' second album, Close As Air, which she released independently in April 2010. McGuinness was born in Fort Hood, Texas, and then she moved with her grandparents to Long Island, NY (her father served in the Green Beret armed forces). She learned to play guitar and piano, and she was inspired by listening to such favorite artists as the Beatles, Sting and Linda Ronstadt. For college, McGuinness attended the Manhattan School of Music, where she majored in Vocal Performance (classical & opera). [Source]