Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country. She is best known for her more commercially accessible recordings in the 1990s including "Nick of Time", "Something to Talk About", "Love Sneakin' Up on You", and "I Can't Make You Love Me". Raitt has received nine Grammy Awards in her career and is a lifelong political activist.

Raitt released her debut album, Bonnie Raitt, in 1971, which was warmly received by the music press. Her second album, Give It Up, was released in 1972 followed by 1973's Takin' My Time.

In 1974, she released Streetlights which featured her experimenting with different producers and different styles which continued with 1975's Home Plate.

In 1977, the Sweet Forgiveness album gave Raitt her first commercial breakthrough with her cover of "Runaway". Raitt's next album, The Glow, was released in 1979 and she helped organize the five MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The shows spawned the a three-record gold album as well as a 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, Carly Simon, James Taylor, and Gil Scott-Heron.

In 1982, she released Green Light which was to be followed by Tongue & Groove in 1983 but her label, Warner Brothers dropped Raitt. Warner Brothers would release Tongue & Groove, renaming it Nine Lives, against Raitt's wishes.

Raitt would 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 guitarist Steven Van Zandt. Along with her participation in Farm Aid and Amnesty International concerts, Raitt traveled to Moscow in 1987 to participate in the first joint Soviet/American Peace Concert. Also, in 1987, Raitt organized a benefit in Los Angeles for Countdown '87 to Stop Contra Aid.

In late 1987, Raitt joined singers 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.

After nearly 20 years, Bonnie Raitt achieved commercial success with her tenth album, Nick of Time, in the spring of 1989. Nick of Time went to the top of the U.S. charts following Raitt's Grammy sweep in early 1990. Raitt would receive a Grammy Award for her duet "In the Mood" with John Lee Hooker on his album The Healer. Nick of Time has sold over six million copies in the US alone.

Raitt followed up this success with three more Grammy Awards for her 1991 album, Luck of the Draw which has currently sold nearly 8 million copies in the United States. Three years later, in 1994, she added two more Grammys with her album Longing In Their Hearts, her second no. 1 album. Both of these albums were multi-platinum successes. In 1995, she would have a live release, Road Tested,.which was certified gold.

In March 2000, Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She released her next albums, Silver Lining was released in 2002 while Souls Alike was released in September 2005.

In April 2012, Raitt released her first studio album since Souls Alike with Slipstream.