30
Twenty albums on,BonnieRaitt proves she can stillmake us love her
Queen ofHearts
music
Fromher resonant voice toher bottleneck slide guitar playing toherwhite-
streaked redhair, BonnieRaitt cuts a singular figure. Thismonth, the66-year-old
blues-rock legend and10-timeGrammywinner releases her 20th album, Dig InDeep. Here,
she talks about her place inmusic history—and in the contemporary scene.
Bonnie
Raitt’s
Valentine’s
Day
Playlist
“ASundayKind
ofLovebyEtta
James isone
ofmyabsolute
favorite songs.
Imissher
somuch.”
“Shake
for
Meby
Howlin’
Wolf
getsme
every
time.”
“Oneof the sexiest songs I’ve
ever heard—it’snot reallyabout
romance, but boy, it
reallygetsme in the
mood—isTheKing
ofElPaso, onan
album calledDig,
byBozScaggs.”
“Ifyouwant to
go fromzero
to60, youcan
listen to [the
RollingStones’]
StartMeUp.
Like, ‘Getover
here rightnow!’”
Onhaving toplay thehits
“I don’twant to repeatmyself toomuch,
and this being the20th record, I’ve
covered a lot of heartache and anger
andbetrayal and longing.How could
I possiblyget anydeeper than ‘ICan’t
MakeYouLoveMe’?As for the rockers
and theR&B tunes, if youhave a song
aboutmissing somebody ’cause theywere
just the greatest lover you ever had, that’s
gonna feel as good to you singing it at 65
as it did at 23.”
Onchoosingcovers toplay
“Mypracticehasbeenprettymuch the
same: going throughmy record collection
or going topeople’shouses, disappearing
atdinnerparties, thumbing throughvinyl,
and the Internet.The INXS song [‘Need
YouTonight’], ever since itwas ahit back
in the ’80s, I said, ‘Man, I amgoing to cut
that thingand slow itdown.’”
Onbeingpigeonholed
“People always try toputme in abox.
Evenwhen I had thosehit records in the
’90s, 80percent of people thought Iwas
a country artist. I don’t knowwhere that
comes from. I prefer having this kindof
umbrella that’s inclusive for all kinds of
different rootsmusic—anything that puts
JohnPrine and JohnHiatt back in the
culture andgivesme a shot, regardless
ofmy age.”
Onbeingapioneer
“Somanyyoungwomen comeupand
go, ‘Becauseof you, I asked for anelectric
guitarwhen Iwas10.’ I’m reallyproud
of that.Butwhen Iwas a littlekid, I
didn’t reallynoticegender; I likedMuddy
Waters.As Igot older Igot singledout
asbeinggreat—or ‘prettygood for a
woman’—playing this style. Itdidn’t even
occur tome to think thatwomen couldn’t
playbluesguitar.”
—JUSTINGOLDMAN
(FEB. 26)
MARINA CHAVEZ (RAITT); PAUL NATKIN/GETTY IMAGES (JAGGER)
“Somanyyoung
women come
upandgo,
‘Becauseof
you, I asked
foranelectric
guitarwhen I
was10.’”
