Every Friday around 11 a.m. Central, it’s time for Classic Americana on Radio Heartland. We pull a special track from the archives or from deep in the shelves to spotlight a particular artist or song.

This week’s classic Americana shines a spotlight on Bonnie Raitt, an acclaimed singer, songwriter and guitarist whose career built slowly but surely to include 21 studio albums and 15 Grammy Awards … so far.

Raitt grew up in Los Angeles in an arts-filled home — her parents, John Raitt and Marge Goddard, were both accomplished musicians — and she began playing guitar at age 8. When she was 14, she got a copy of the album Blues at Newport 1963, cementing her interest in blues music and slide guitar.

After spending a few years at Harvard University and taking part in the adjacent Cambridge, Mass., folk-music scene, Raitt embarked in earnest on her career in music. Her 1971 self-titled debut album was recorded on an island in the middle of Lake Minnetonka, an expansive body of water located 15 miles west of Minneapolis.

Raitt’s musical momentum built slowly but surely; her albums were always acclaimed by critics, gaining attention for her fresh takes on others’ songs while displaying her own ingenuity with original songs. Her 1974 album Streetlights included her immortal cover of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” and in 1977, she released a cover of Del Shannon’s hit “Runaway.” The pace quickened in the 1980s when Raitt received three Grammy nominations — and critically, got signed to Capitol Records.

The big breakthrough for Bonnie Raitt came in 1989 with the release of the album Nick of Time. Produced by Don Was, the album brought Bonnie Raitt her first four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The title track earned Raitt a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. We’ll hear that song as our Classic Americana pick of the week.

The awards didn’t stop there. To date, Bonnie Raitt has earned 15 Grammys — the most recent three coming from her work on her 2022 album, Just Like That…, with the title track from that album winning Grammys for Song of the Year and for Best American Roots Song.

Bonnie Raitt continues to perform, write and record to this day. If you’ve never had the chance to see Raitt perform live, her February 2024 appearance during season 49 of the PBS series Austin City Limits is truly spectacular. “I’m really aware of how lucky I am,” Raitt has said, “and I feel like my responsibility is to get out there and say something fresh and new — for me and for the fans.”

External Links

Bonnie Raitt – official site