Linda Ronstadt: Tucson to name music hall for Grammy Award-winning singer

TUCSON. Ariz. (AP) - The Tucson Music Hall will be renamed in honor of Linda Ronstadt, a southern Arizona native who went on to become a Grammy-winning superstar, Mayor Regina Romero announced Friday.

One of the top performers of the 1970s and a popular singer well into the 21st century, Ronstadt collected nearly a dozen Grammys in such categories as country, pop, Latin and children’s music. She stopped singing in 2009 when Parkinson’s disease robbed her of her singing voice.

"Linda Ronstadt is a beloved daughter of Tucson. It is time to honor her legacy and her ability to tell the story of our culture through music," Romero said in a statement.

Ronstadt arrived on the music scene in 1967 as the lead singer of the Stone Poneys, a country-folk trio that featured two of her friends from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She later found success as a solo artist in eclectic genres ranging from rock to Mexican ranchera.

She was influenced by the Mexican music she grew up listening to as a child in Tucson.

"To me, nothing is more satisfying than going home to Tucson and singing with my dad," Ronstadt once told The Los Angeles Times.

The venue will be formally renamed on May 7 during the International Mariachi Conference Espectacular Concert. Romero’s office said Ronstadt is scheduled to be in Tucson to unveil new signage baring her name.

"I am fortunate to be a member of a large musical family that has been associated with the City of Tucson since the 1800s," Ronstadt said in a statement released by the city. "My entire career was informed and nurtured by the music we made as I was growing up here."

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