Who is Bonnie Raitt? Bonnie Raitt Biography and Wiki
Bonnie Raitt (Bonnie Lyn Raitt) is an American blues singer, guitarist, songwriter, and activist. During the 1970s, Lyn unleashed a series of roots-influenced albums that incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk, and country. In 1989, after many years of critical success, she had a major hit with the album Nick of Time.
| Quick Biography | |
|---|---|
| Full Names | Bonnie Lyn Raitt |
| Popular As | Bonnie Raitt |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation / Profession | Singer, guitarist, songwriter, and activist |
| Nationality | American |
| Race / Ethnicity | Scottish |
| Religion | Christian |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
The following two albums, Luck of the Draw and Longing in Their Hearts, were multimillion sellers, generating many hit singles, including ”Something to Talk About”, ”Love Sneakin Up On You”, and the ballad ”I Can’t Make You Love Me”. Lyn has acquired 10 Grammy Awards.
She is listed as number 50 in Rolling Stone’s list of the ”100 Greatest Singers of All Time” and number 89 on the magazine’s list of the ”100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time”. Australian country music artist Graeme Connors has said, ”Lyn does something with a lyric no one else can do; she bends it and twists it right into your heart.”
Bonnie Raitt Age and Birthday
Lyn was born on November 8, 1949, in Burbank, California, in the United States. She is currently at the age of 73 years as of 2022, and she always celebrates her birthday on November 8, every year.
| Age and Birthday | |
|---|---|
| Age: | 73 Years (As of 2022) |
| Zodiac Sign: | Scorpio |
| Date of Birth: | November 8, 1949 |
| Place of Birth: | Burbank, California |
| Birthday: | November 8 |
Bonnie Raitt Height and Weight
Lyn stands at 163 cm,5′4″ (feet & inches) in terms of height and 56kg/ 123.5 pounds in terms of her weight.
| Height and Weight | |
|---|---|
| Height | 163 cm,5'4″ (feet & inches) |
| Weight | 56 kg, 123.5 pounds |
| Other Body Measurements | |
|---|---|
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Hair Color | Red |
| Shoe Size | 7 US |
| Dress Size | To be Updated |
| Breast Size | 34 in / 87 cm |
| Waist Size | 25 in / 66 cm |
| Hip Size | 31 in / 81 cm |
Bonnie Raitt Education
Lyn graduated from Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1967, Raitt entered Radcliffe College, majoring in Social Relations and African studies. She said her ”plan was to travel to Tanzania, where President Julius Nyerere was creating a government based on democracy and socialism”.
She was the lead singer in the campus music group known as the ”Revolutionary Music Collective” founded by songwriter Bob Telson which played for striking Harvard students during the Student strike of 1970.
Raitt became friends with blues promoter Dick Waterman. During her second year of college, Raitt left school for a semester and moved to Philadelphia with Waterman and other local musicians. Raitt said it was an ”opportunity that changed everything.”
| Education | |
|---|---|
| School | Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie |
| College/ University | Radcliffe College |
| Highest Qualification | To be updated |
Bonnie Raitt Parents, Family and Siblings
Lyn was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of the Broadway musical star John Raitt (father)and his first wife, the pianist Marjorie Haydock(mother). Raitt is of Scottish ancestry, her ancestors constructed Rait Castle near Naim.
As for her siblings, Lyn has two brothers: David Raitt and Steven Raitt.
She was raised in the Quaker tradition. She started playing guitar at Camp Regis-Applejack in Paul Smiths, New York at an early age. Later she got noticed for her bottleneck-style guitar playing. Raitt said she played ”a little at school and at camp” in New York.
| Family Members | |
|---|---|
| Father (Dad) | John Raitt |
| Mother | Marjorie Haydock |
| Brother(s) | David Raitt and Steven Raitt. |
| Sister(s) | To be Updated |
Bonnie Raitt Husband, Spouse, and Children
Bonnie Raitt is married to actor Michael O’Keefe on April 27, 1991. Unfortunately, they announced their divorce on November 9, 1999, because of the causal factors appearing to be that their careers caused considerable time apart.
After her divorce Bonnie has not had an affair with anyone else and if she has then she decided to keep it a secret as there’s no public information regarding her relationship status.
| Relationship Status | Name |
|---|---|
| Marital Status | Divorced |
| Husband (Ex) | Michael O’Keefe |
| Children | Not Known |
Bonnie Raitt Net Worth and Salary
Raitt is an American actress and Internet personality who has an estimated net worth of $3 million dollars as of 2022. She was a founding member of Musicians United for Safe Energy in 1979 and a catalyst for the larger anti-nuclear movement, becoming involved with groups like the Abalone Alliance and Alliance for Survival. In 1994 at the urging of Dick Waterman, Raitt funded the replacement of a headstone for one of her mentors, blues guitarist Fred McDowell through the Mt., Zion Memorial Fund.
We are yet to get any information regarding her salary however we are keeping tabs and once the information is available, we will update.
| Salary and Networth | |
|---|---|
| Salary | To be updated |
| Net Worth | $3 million dollars |
| Source of Income | Her music career |
Bonnie Raitt House and Cars
- Place of living: To be Updated
- Cars: Car Brand to be Updated
Bonnie Raitt Career
1970–1976
In the summer of 1970, she played with her brother David on stand up bass with Mississippi Fred McDowell at the Philly Folk Festival as well as Opening for John Hammond at the Gaslight Cafe in New York, she was seen by a reporter from Newsweek, who began to spread the word about her performance.
Scouts from major record companies were soon attending her shows to watch her play. She eventually accepted an offer from Warner Bros., who soon released her debut album, Bonnie Raitt, in 1971. The album was warmly received by the music press, with many writers praising her skills as an interpreter and as a bottleneck guitarist; at the time, 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 positive reviews.
Though many critics[who?] 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 began to receive greater press coverage, including a 1975 cover story for Rolling Stone, but with 1974’s Streetlights, reviews for her work were becoming increasingly mixed. By this point, 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 m
1977–1988
1977’s Sweet Forgiveness album gave Raitt her first commercial breakthrough when it yielded a hit single in her remake of “Runaway.” Recast as a heavy rhythm and blues recording based on a rhythmic groove inspired by Al Green, Raitt’s version of “Runaway” was disparaged by many critics.
However, the song’s commercial success prompted a bidding war for Raitt 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, Warner signed Paul Simon away from Columbia, and they didn’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 Brothers held higher expectations for Raitt’s next album, The Glow, in 1979, 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 Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The shows spawned the three-record gold album No Nukes, as well as a Warner Brothers feature film of the same name. 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, Gil Scott-Heron, and numerous others.
In 1980, she appeared as herself in the Paramount film “Urban Cowboy” where she sang “Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance.” For her next record, 1982’s Green Light, Raitt made a conscious attempt to revisit the sound of her earlier records.
However, to her surprise, many of her peers and the media compared 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 Brothers.
Tongue and Groove and release from Warner Brothers
In 1983, as Raitt was finishing work on her follow-up album, entitled Tongue and Groove, Warner Brothers “cleaned house”, dropping a number of major artists such as Van Morrison and Arlo Guthrie from their roster. The day after mastering was completed on Tongue & Groove, the record label dropped Raitt also.
The album was shelved indefinitely, and Raitt was left without a record label. By then, Raitt was also struggling with alcohol and drug abuse problems. 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 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, later shown on the Showtime television network.
Also in 1987, Raitt organized a benefit in Los Angeles for Countdown ’87 to Stop Contra Aid. The benefit featured herself along with musicians Don Henley, Herbie Hancock, Holly Near, and others. Two years after dropping her from their label, Warner Brothers notified Raitt of their plans to release Tongue and Groove.
“I said it wasn’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 ability 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, Nine Lives, released in 1986, would be Raitt’s last new recording for Warner Brothers. In late 1987, Raitt joined singers k.d. lang and Jennifer Warnes as female background vocalists for Roy Orbison’s television special, Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night.
Following this highly acclaimed broadcast, Raitt began working on new material. By then, she was clean and sober, having resolved her substance abuse problem. She later credited Stevie Ray Vaughan for his help in a Minnesota State Fair concert the night after Vaughan’s 1990 death.
During this time, Raitt considered signing with the Prince-owned Paisley Park label, but negotiations ultimately fell 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 Was to produce her next album.
1989–1999: Commercial breakthrough
After working with Was on the Stay Awake album, Raitt’s management, Gold Mountain, approached numerous labels about a new record deal, and she was signed to Capitol by A&R executive Tim Devine. At Capitol, after nearly 20 years, Raitt achieved belated commercial success with her tenth album, Nick of Time.
Released 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. This album has been voted number 230 in the Rolling Stone list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Raitt herself pointed out that her 10th try was “my first sober album.”
At the same time, Raitt received a fourth Grammy Award for her duet “In the Mood” with John Lee Hooker on his album The Healer. Nick of Time was also the first of many of her recordings to feature her longtime rhythm section of Ricky Fataar and James “Hutch” Hutchinson (although previously Fataar had played on her Green Light album and Hutchinson had worked on Nine Lives), both of whom record and tour with her to this day.
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 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. 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.
“Rock Steady” was a hit written by Bryan Adams and Gretchen Peters in 1995. The song was written as a duet with Bryan Adams and Bonnie Raitt for her Road Tested tour, which also became one of her albums. The original demo version of the song appears on Adams’ 1996 single “Let’s Make a Night to Remember”.
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.
2000–2007
In March 2000, Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Silver Lining was released in 2002. In the US, it reached number 13 on the Billboard chart and was later certified Gold. It contains the singles “I Can’t Help You Now”, “Time of Our Lives”, and the title track.
All three singles charted within the top 40 of the US Adult Contemporary chart. On March 19, 2002, Bonnie Raitt received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the recording industry, located at 1750 N. Vine Street. In 2003 Capitol Records released the compilation album The Best of Bonnie Raitt.
It contains songs from her prior Capitol albums from 1989 to 2002 including Nick of Time, Luck of the Draw, Longing in Their Hearts, Road Tested, Fundamental, and Silver Lining. Raitt was featured on the album True Love by Toots and the Maytals, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album.
Souls Alike were released in September 2005. In the US, it reached the top 20 on the Billboard chart. It contains the singles “I Will Not Be Broken” and “I Don’t Want Anything to Change”, which both charted in the top 40 of the US Adult Contemporary chart.
In 2006 she released the live DVD/CD Bonnie Raitt and Friends, which was filmed as part of the critically acclaimed VH1 Classic Decades Rock Live Concert Series, featuring special guests Keb Mo’, Alison Krauss, Ben Harper, Jon Cleary, and Norah Jones.
The DVD was released by Capitol Records on August 15. Bonnie Raitt and Friends, which was recorded live in Atlantic City, NJ on September 30, 2005, features never-before-seen performance and interview footage, including four duets not included in the VH1 Classic broadcast of the concert.
The accompanying CD features 11 tracks, including the radio single “Two Lights in the Nighttime” (featuring Ben Harper). In 2007, Raitt contributed to Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. With Jon Cleary, she sang a medley of “I’m in Love Again” and “All by Myself” by Fats Domino.
2008–present
Raitt appeared on June 7, 2008, broadcast of Garrison Keillor’s radio program A Prairie Home Companion. She performed two blues songs with Kevin “Keb’ Mo'” Moore: “No Getting Over You” and “There Ain’t Nothin’ in Ramblin'”. Raitt also sang “Dimming of the Day” with Richard Thompson.
This show, along with another one with Raitt and her band in October 2006, is archived on the Prairie Home Companion website. Raitt appeared in the 2011 documentary “Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals,” which was featured on BBC and described as “The untold story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica”.
In February 2012, Raitt performed a duet with Alicia Keys at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012 honoring Etta James. In April 2012, Raitt released her first studio album since 2005, entitled Slipstream. It charted at Number 6 on the US Billboard 200 chart marking her first top ten albums since 1994’s Longing in Their Hearts.
The album was described as “one of the best of her 40-year career” by American Songwriter magazine. In September 2012, Raitt was featured in a campaign called “30 Songs / 30 Days” to support Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a multi-platform media project inspired by a project outlined in a book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
In 2013, she appeared on Foy Vance’s album Joy of Nothing. May 30, 2015, Leon Russell and Bonnie Raitt and Ivan Neville gave a performance at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California, Ca to raise cash for Marty Grebb who was battling cancer. Grebb had played on some of their albums.
In February 2016, Raitt released her seventeenth studio album Dig in Deep. The album charted at number 11 on the US Billboard 200 chart and received favorable reviews. The album features the single “Gypsy in Me” as well as a cover of the INXS song “Need You Tonight”.
Raitt canceled the first leg of her 2018 spring-summer touring schedule due to a recently discovered medical issue requiring surgical intervention. She reported that a “full recovery” is expected and that she planned to resume touring with already-scheduled dates in June 2018.
Bonnie Raitt Drug and Alcohol use and Recovery
Raitt used alcohol and drugs, but began psychotherapy and joined Alcoholics Anonymous in the late 1980s. She has said, “I thought I had to live that partying lifestyle in order to be authentic, but in fact, if you keep it up too long, all you’re going to be is sloppy or dead”.
She became clean in 1987. She has credited Stevie Ray Vaughan for breaking her substance abuse, saying that what gave her the courage to admit her alcohol problem and stop drinking was seeing that Stevie Ray Vaughan was an even better musician when sober She has also said that she stopped because she realized that the “late night life” was not working for her.
In 1989 she said “I really feel like some angels have been carrying me around. I just have more focus and more discipline, and consequently more self-respect.”
Bonnie Raitt Political Activism
Raitt’s political involvement goes back to the early 1970s. Her 1972 album Give It Up had a dedication “to the people of North Vietnam …” printed on the back. 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 1979 and a catalyst for the larger anti-nuclear movement, becoming involved with groups like the Abalone Alliance and Alliance for Survival.
In 1994 at the urging of Dick Waterman, Raitt funded the replacement of a headstone for one of her mentors, blues guitarist Fred McDowell through the Mt., Zion Memorial Fund. Raitt later financed memorial headstones in Mississippi for musicians Memphis Minnie, Sam Chatmon, and Tommy Johnson again with the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund.
At the Stockholm Jazz Festival in July 2004, Raitt dedicated 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 song that was featured on her 1979 album The Glow.
In 2002, Raitt signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S. She has visited children in the program and sits on the organization’s board of directors as an honorary member.
In 2008, Raitt donated a song to the Aid Still Required’s CD to assist with relief efforts in Southeast Asia from the 2004 tsunami. Raitt worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for her 2005 fall/winter and 2006 spring/summer/fall tours.[30] Raitt is part of the No Nukes group, which opposes the expansion of nuclear power.
In 2007, No Nukes recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song “For What It’s Worth”. During the 2008 Democratic primary campaign Raitt, along with Jackson Browne and bassist James “Hutch” Hutchinson, performed at campaign appearances for candidate John Edwards.
Bonnie Raitt Discography
- 1971: Bonnie Raitt
- 1972: Give It Up
- 1973: Takin’ My Time
- 1974: Streetlights
- 1975: Home Plate
- 1977: Sweet Forgiveness
- 1979: The Glow
- 1982: Green Light
- 1986: Nine Lives
- 1989: Nick of Time
- 1991: Luck of the Draw
- 1994: Longing in Their Hearts
- 1998: Fundamental
- 2002: Silver Lining
- 2005: Souls Alike
- 2012: Slipstream
- 2016: Dig in Deep
Bonnie Raitt Tours
- Providence, RI, United States
- Dunkin’ Donuts Center
- Allentown, PA, United States
- PPL Center
Bonnie Raitt Songs
- I Can’t Make You Love Me
- Luck of the Draw · 1991
- Angel from Montgomery
- Streetlights · 1974
- Something to Talk About
- Luck of the Draw · 1991
- Dimming of the Day
- The longing in Their Hearts · 1994
- Tennessee Waltz
- Bonnie Raitt And Friends · 2006
- Love Has No Pride
- Give It Up · 1972
- Love Me Like a Man
- Give It Up · 1972
- Kisses Sweeter Than Wine Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger · 1998
- Will the Sun Ever Shine Again?
- Home on the Range · 2004
- Love Sneakin’ Upon You
- The longing in Their Hearts · 1994
- Thing Called Love
- Nick of Time · 1989
- I Feel the Same
- Takin’ My Time · 1973
- I Will Not Be Broken
- Souls Alike · 2005
- Women Are Wise
- Bonnie Raitt · 1971
- Good Man, Good Woman
- Luck of the Draw · 1991
- Too Long at the Fair
- Give It Up · 1972
- Have a Heart
- Nick of Time · 1989
- Not the Only One
- Luck of the Draw · 1991
- Papa Come Quick
- Luck of the Draw · 1991
- Poor Poor Pitiful Me
- Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon · 2004
- Burning Down the House Road Tested · 1995
- The Ones We Couldn’t Be Dig in Deep · 2016
- Gypsy In Me Dig in Deep · 2016
- Not Cause I Wanted To
- Slipstream · 2012
- SRV Shuffle
- A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan · 1996
- I Believe I’m In Love With You
- Road Tested · 1995
- One Part Be My Lover
- Luck of the Draw · 1991
- Tangled and Dark
- Luck of the Draw · 1991
- Nick of Time
- Nick of Time · 1989
- Feels Like Home
- Michael · 1996
- The Road’s My Middle Name
- Nick of Time · 1989
- Guilty
- Takin’ My Time · 1973
Bonnie Raitt New album
- BONNIE RAITT – PHILADELPHIA 1972
- 2019
Bonnie Raitt Awards
- Slipstream 2013
- “I Will Not Be Broken” 2006
- “Time of Our Lives” 2004
- “Gnawin’ On It” 2003
- “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” (with Jackson Browne) 1999
- “SRV Shuffle”, “Burning Down The House” and Road Tested 1997
- “You Got It” 1996
- “Love Sneakin’ Up On You”, 1995
- “Green Light” 1983
- “No Way To Treat A Lady” 1987
Frequently Asked Questions About Bonnie Raitt
Raitt is an American blues singer, guitarist, songwriter, and activist. During the 1970s, Lyn unleashed a series of roots-influenced albums that incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk, and country. In 1989, after many years of critical success, she had a major hit with the album Nick of Time.
Lyn was born on November 8, 1949, in Burbank, California, in the United States. She is currently at the age of 73 years as of 2023, and she always celebrates her birthday on November 8, every year.
Lyn stands at 163 cm,5′4″ (feet & inches) in terms of height.
Bonnie Raitt was married to actor Michael O’Keefe on April 27, 1991. Unfortunately, they announced their divorce on November 9, 1999, because of the causal factors appearing to be that their careers caused considerable time apart.
Lyn has an approximate net worth of $3 million dollars. This amount has been accrued from her leading roles in the entertainment industry.
Details about Lyn’s salary are not yet disclosed. However, information about how much she makes will be updated as soon as it is available.
Because of security reasons, Lyn has not shared her precise location of residence. We will immediately update this information if we get the location and images of her house.
Lyn is alive and in good health. There have been no reports of her being sick or having any health-related issues.
Raitt is still an active participant in the music industry, doing performances and making tours.
Bonnie Raitt Social Media Contacts
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