Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Raitt at 1990 Grammy awards Bonnie Raitt , ( born November 8 , 1949 ) is an American blues / R & B singer , songwriter , and guitarist who was born in Burbank , California , the daughter of Broadway musical star John Raitt . Biography Raitt began playing guitar at an early age , something not a lot of her high school girlfriends did . Later she would become famous for her bottleneck-style guitar playing . `` I had played a little at school and at camp , `` she later recalled in a July 2002 interview . `` My parents would drag me out to perform for my family , like all parents do , but it was a hobby—nothing more ... I think people must wonder how a white girl like me became a blues guitarist . The truth is , I never intended to do this for a living . I grew up ... in a Quaker family , and for me being Quaker was a political calling rather than a religious one . `` In 1967 Raitt continued her pursuit in that path when she entered Harvard 's Radcliffe College as a freshman , majoring in African Studies . `` My plan was to travel to Tanzania , where President Julius Nyerere was creating a government based on democracy and socialism , `` Raitt recalled . `` I wanted to help undo the damage that Western colonialism had done to native cultures around the world . Cambridge was a hotbed of this kind of thinking , and I was thrilled . `` One day , Raitt was notified by a friend that blues promoter Dick Waterman was giving an interview at WHRB , Harvard 's college radio station . An important figure in the blues revival of the 1960s , Waterman was also a resident of Cambridge . Raitt went to see Waterman , and the two soon became friends , `` much to the chagrin of my parents , who did n't expect their freshman daughter to be running around with 65-year-old bluesmen , `` recalled Raitt . `` I was amazed by his passion for the music and the integrity with which he managed the musicians . `` During Raitt 's sophomore year , Waterman relocated to Philadelphia , and a number of local musicians he counted among his friends went with him . Raitt had become a strong part of that community , recalling that `` these people had become my friends , my mentors , and though I had every intention of graduating , I decided to take the semester off and move to Philadelphia ... It was an opportunity that young white girls just do n't get , and as it turns out , an opportunity that changed everything . `` By now , Raitt was also playing folk and rhythm and blues clubs in the Boston area , performing alongside established blues legends like Howlin ' Wolf , Sippie Wallace , and Mississippi Fred McDowell , all of whom she met through Waterman . In the fall of 1970 , while opening for Fred McDowell at the Gaslight Cafe in New York , a reporter from Newsweek Magazine saw her and began to spread word of her performance . Scouts from major record companies were soon attending her shows to watch her play . She eventually accepted an offer with Warner Bros. who soon released her eponymously titled debut in 1971 . The album was warmly received by the music press , many of which praised her skills as an interpreter and as a bottleneck guitarist ; at the time , very few women in popular music had strong reputations as guitarists . While admired by those who saw her perform , and respected by her peers , Raitt gained little public acclaim for her work . Her critical stature continued to grow but record sales remained modest . Her second album , Give It Up , was released in 1972 to universal acclaim , and though many critics still regard it as her best work , it did not change her commercial fortunes. 1973 's Takin ' My Time was also met with critical acclaim , but these notices were not matched by the sales . Raitt was beginning to receive greater press coverage , including a 1975 cover story for Rolling Stone Magazine , but with 1974 's Streetlights , reviews for her work were becoming increasingly mixed . By now , Raitt was already experimenting with different producers and different styles , and she began to adopt a more mainstream sound that continued through 1975 's Home Plate . In 1976 , Raitt made a notable appearance on Warren Zevon 's self-titled album with Warren Zevon 's friend Jackson Browne and Fleetwood Mac 's Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks . 1977 's Sweet Forgiveness gave Raitt her first commercial breakthrough when it yielded a hit single in her cover of Del Shannon 's `` Runaway. '' Recast as a heavy r & b recording based on a rhythmic groove inspired by Al Green , Raitt 's version of `` Runaway '' was disparaged by many critics , but its commercial success prompted a bidding war between Warner Bros. and Columbia Records . `` There was this big Columbia – Warner war going on at the time , `` recalled Raitt in a 1990 interview . `` James Taylor had just left Warner Bros. and made a big album for Columbia ... And then , Warners signed Paul Simon away from Columbia , and they did n't want me to have a hit record for Columbia — no matter what ! So , I renegotiated my contract , and they basically matched Columbia 's offer . Frankly the deal was a really big deal . `` Warner Bros. held higher expectations for Raitt 's next album , 1979 's The Glow , but it was released to poor reviews as well as modest sales . Raitt would have one commercial success in 1979 when she helped organize the five MUSE ( Musicians United for Safe Energy ) concerts at Madison Square Garden . The shows spawned a three-record gold album as well as a Warner Bros. feature film , No Nukes . The shows featured co-founders Jackson Browne , Graham Nash , John Hall , and Raitt as well as Bruce Springsteen , Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers , The Doobie Brothers , James Taylor , Gil Scott-Heron , and numerous others . For her next record , 1982 's Green Light , Raitt made a conscious attempt to revisit the sound of her earlier records , but to her surprise , many of her peers and members of the press would compare her new sound to the burgeoning New Wave movement . The album received her strongest reviews in years , but her sales did not improve and this would have a severe impact on her relationship with Warner Bros . In 1983 , as Raitt was finishing work on her follow-up album , titled Tongue & Groove , Warner Bros. cleaned house , dropping a number of major artists from their roster . Van Morrison and Arlo Guthrie were two of the most high-profile cases , and the day after mastering was completed on Tongue & Groove , Raitt was notified that she was to be dropped too . The album was shelved indefinitely , and Raitt was left without a label . By now , Raitt was also struggling with alcohol and drug abuse . Despite her personal and professional problems , Raitt continued to tour and participate in political activism . In 1985 , she sang and appeared in the video of `` Sun City , `` the anti- apartheid record written and produced by Steven Van Zandt . Along with her participation in Farm Aid and Amnesty International concerts , Raitt would later travel to Moscow in 1987 as part of the first joint Soviet/American Peace Concert later shown on Showtime television . Also in 1987 , Raitt would organize a benefit in Los Angeles , for Countdown '87 to Stop Contra Aid , featuring herself , Don Henley , Herbie Hancock , Holly Near and others . Two years after dropping her from their label , Warner Bros. notified Raitt of their plans to release Tongue & Groove . `` I said it was n't really fair , `` recalled Raitt . `` I think at this point they felt kind of bad . I mean , I was out there touring on my savings to keep my name up , and my ablility to draw was less and less . So they agreed to let me go in and recut half of it , and that 's when it came out as Nine Lives . '' A critical and commercial disappointment , 1986 's Nine Lives would be Raitt 's last new recording for Warner Bros . In late 1987 she joined k.d. lang and Jennifer Warnes as female background vocals for Roy Orbison 's television special , Roy Orbison and Friends , A Black and White Night . By now , Raitt was clean and sober , having broken her substance abuse — for which she would credit Stevie Ray Vaughan in a Minnesota State Fair concert the night after Vaughan 's 1990 death . Following this highly acclaimed broadcast , she began working on new material . During this time , Raitt considered signing with Prince 's own label , Paisley Park , but negotiations would ultimately fall through . Instead she began recording a bluesy mix of pop and rock under the production guidance of Don Was at Capitol Records . Raitt had met Was through Hal Wilner , who was putting together Stay Awake , a tribute album to Disney music for A & M. Was and Wilner both wanted Raitt to sing lead on an adult-contemporary arrangement created by Was for `` Baby Mine , `` the lullaby from Dumbo . Raitt was very pleased with the sessions , and she asked Don to produce her next album . After more than twenty years of singing and recording popular music , Bonnie Raitt achieved immense success with her 10th album . Released in 1989 , Nick of Time went to the top of the U.S. charts and won three Grammy Awards . At the same time , she walked away with a fourth Grammy Award for her duet `` In the Mood '' with John Lee Hooker on his album `` The Healer '' . She followed up this success with three more Grammy Awards for her 1991 album , Luck of the Draw , which contains the hit single I Ca n't Make You Love Me , often considered to be one of the best ballads of all time . I Ca n't Make You Love Me is notoriously difficult to sing , as many who have attempted it have discovered . Three years later , in 1994 , she added two more Grammy 's with her album Longing in Their Hearts . Both of these albums were multiplatinum successes . Raitt 's collaboration with Was would amicably come to an end with 1995 's live release , Road Tested . Released to solid reviews , it sold well enough to be certified gold . For her next studio album , Raitt hired Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake as her producers . `` I loved working with Don Was but I wanted to give myself and my fans a stretch and do something different , `` Raitt said . Her work with Froom and Blake was released on Fundamental in 1998 . In March of 2000 , Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . Silver Lining was released in 2002 while Souls Alike was released in September of 2005 . Political activism Raitt 's web site urges fans to learn more about preserving the environment . She was a founding member of Musicians United for Safe Energy . In July 2004 , she drew thunderous applause at the Stockholm Jazz Festival for dedicating a classic to sitting ( and later re-elected ) U.S. President George W. Bush . She was quoted as saying , `` We 're gonna sing this for George Bush because he 's out of here , people ! `` before she launched into the opening licks of `` Your Good Thing ( Is About to End ) , `` a cover that was featured on her 1979 album The Glow . Personal life Raitt and actor Michael O'Keefe married on April 27 , 1991 and announced their divorce on November 9 , 1999 . Discography Studio Albums Bonnie Raitt ( 1971 ) Give It Up ( 1972 ) # 138 US Takin ' My Time ( 1973 ) # 87 US Streetlights ( 1974 ) # 80 US Home Plate ( 1975 ) # 43 US Sweet Forgiveness ( 1977 ) # 25 US The Glow ( 1979 ) # 30 US Green Light ( 1982 ) # 38 US Nine Lives ( 1986 ) # 115 US Nick of Time ( 1989 ) # 1 US , # 51 UK Luck of the Draw ( 1991 ) # 2 US , # 38 UK Longing in Their Hearts ( 1994 ) # 1 US , # 26 UK Road Tested ( 1995 ) # 44 US , # 69 UK Fundamental ( 1998 ) # 17 US , # 52 UK Silver Lining ( 2002 ) # 13 US Souls Alike ( 2005 ) # 19 US Virtual Albums iTunes Originals - Bonnie Raitt Singles `` Runaway '' ( 1977 ) # 57 US `` You 're Gonna Get What 's Coming '' ( 1979 ) # 73 US `` Have a Heart '' ( 1990 ) # 49 US `` Nick of Time '' ( 1990 ) # 92 US , # 82 UK `` Thing Called Love '' ( 1990 ) # 86 UK `` Something to Talk About '' ( 1991 ) # 5 US `` I Ca n't Make You Love Me '' ( 1991 ) # 18 US , # 50 UK `` Not the Only One '' ( 1992 ) # 34 US `` Love Sneakin ' up on You '' ( 1994 ) # 19 US , # 69 UK `` You '' ( 1994 ) # 92 US , # 31 UK `` You Got It `` ( 1995 ) # 33 US `` Rock Steady '' ( w/Bryan Adams ) ( 1995 ) # 73 US , # 50 UK External links Official website Bonnie 's Pride The Complete Collection Bonnie Raitt at the Internet Movie Database Bonnie Raitt Lyrics Categories : 1949 births | American country singers | American female guitarists | American female singers | American rock singers | American blues guitarists | American blue-eyed soul singers | People from the San Fernando Valley | American Quakers | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees | Scottish-Americans | American singer-songwriters | Living people | Alumnae of women 's colleges | American blues singers | American folk singers | Hollywood Walk of Fame | People from Burbank , California In other languages : Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Nederlands | Polski | Suomi 0707248 Bonnie Raitt 