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(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
There is a certain hierarchy when it comes to the greatest artists that have come and gone throughout rock history. People will always be trying to eclipse the kind of rockstars that have come before them, but there’s a reason why everyone from Mick Jagger and Robert Plant are the archetypes for frontmen and why any guitarist bows down to the genius of people like Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. When it comes to female rock singers, though, Linda Ronstadt serves as one of the gold standards for the kind of voice that everyone after her should strive for.
While she was nowhere near the powerful belt of someone like Aretha Franklin, Ronstadt’s main superpower was her ability to switch up her vocals every time she sang. ‘You’re No Good’ is one of the grittiest performances that she ever laid down, but it’s impossible to think that the same voice that sang that also had the tenderness to sing tunes like ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’ or ‘When Will I Be Loved’.
And when it came to other genres, Ronstadt was never afraid to experiment with anything else as long as she had her heart in it. She knew that there were ample opportunities to use her voice in different ways, and despite everyone thinking she was making a terrible mistake trying to take on Broadway showtunes or making albums entirely in Spanish, there are countless moments where she managed to prove every one of her naysayers looking like fools for ever doubting her.
But as much as people bow to Ronstadt for her fearlessness, there was always something holding her back from considering herself a true god among other singers. She had done everything she could to downplay her ego despite being one of the biggest singers in the world, and even when working alongside some of the greatest singers of her time, like Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, she knew many voices did justice to rock far better than she ever could.
So, who did Linda Ronstadt consider the ‘Queen of Rock’?
You have to remember that this was the era when the biggest names in rock and roll were new wave artists, and people like Debbie Harry and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads were becoming as important as the men in their groups. Things had grown a lot more gender-neutral, but there was no doubt who led a band like Pretenders when Chrissie Hynde stepped onstage.
Compared to every other rock and roll frontman, Hynde never minced her words when working with her band. She had the dangerous punk credentials to hang with any other rock and roll heavyweight, but when she came out with tunes like ‘I’ll Stand By You’ or ‘Brass in Pocket’, everyone knew that they were listening to someone that had the potential to be a great singer-songwriter had she turned down the distortion.
And listening to her music, Ronstadt felt that no other female singer did it better than Hynde, saying, “Being considered the Queen of Rock made me uneasy, as my musical devotions often lay elsewhere. My candidate for consideration as the first fully realised female rocker is Chrissie Hynde. She has the musicianship, originality, seductively cool attitude, and guitar chops to secure her place in the tradition. My crown is off to her.”
Listening to Hynde’s music, it’s easy to see what Ronstadt sees in it. There is a lot of genuine musicality behind everything, and she is never afraid to switch things up, but there’s a certain sense of swagger and bold attitude behind everything that makes her about as badass as Keith Richards could ever claim to be.
So when going through the grand tradition of female rockers, Hynde holds a special place in many people’s hearts for being authentically rock and roll from skin to core. Janis Joplin may have brought a bluesy texture to everything, and Joan Jett wore her credentials proudly on her sleeve, but in terms of someone pushing the genre forward, no one did it better than Hynde could.
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