In my early twenties, if I wasn’t getting good enough at it, then people would not come and see me. Anybody who has lasted this long – I hope we get better with age.
BONNIE RAITTI finally learned to accept that I can’t make radio play blues any more than I could get Reagan out of the White House.
More Bonnie Raitt Quotes
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A lot of political music to me can be rather pedantic and corny, and when it’s done right – like Bruce Springsteen or Jackson Browne or great satire from Randy Newman, there’s nothing better.
BONNIE RAITT -
I’m glad I get singled out for my slide guitar-playing, which isn’t that difficult to do. I didn’t take guitar lessons, but I just love the way it sounds, almost like the human voice.
BONNIE RAITT -
I don’t want to sound like a self-help book, but it really has been transformative for me to take a look at my relationships in a new way and see my part in them. Everybody’s going through that.
BONNIE RAITT -
The one thing I know is that if you’re not paying attention, it will come back to bite you.
BONNIE RAITT -
Religion is for people who are scared to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there.
BONNIE RAITT -
We did a two month tour with Taj Mahal that was really healing and cathartic and a good distraction after my brother passed away. Then I knew I wanted to take a year off, and it was really nice to have that chance to fall apart.
BONNIE RAITT -
The fact is that this conversation is going on at every level at every age, we’re all going, “God, what a jerk I’ve been,” “How could I have married that guy?” or “How could I have done this or that?” With time, this is the gift of being older, that you get to look back and say, “It wasn’t all about them.”
BONNIE RAITT -
Leading a band and producing yourself and picking cool tunes and putting a show together takes a lot of thought, and a certain amount of courage.
BONNIE RAITT -
Elvis might have compromised his musical style a bit towards the end, but that doesn’t mean that artists from the rock n’ roll/folk-roots culture – of which he was not really a part – shouldn’t get better as they get older, like the great jazz or blues artists.
BONNIE RAITT -
I just play the music that I love with musicians that I respect, and fortunately, I’m in a position where people are willing to play with me, and perhaps I can do something to help them.
BONNIE RAITT -
There would be no rock and roll or rhythm and blues without Leo Fenders’ contribution … the tone is everything
BONNIE RAITT -
The experiences of life make all your emotions, I think, deeper.
BONNIE RAITT -
The consolidation of the music business has made it difficult to encourage styles like the blues, all of which deserve to be celebrated as part of our most treasured national resources.
BONNIE RAITT -
Whatever role we were in our family of birth, we take on this persona and in your 20s and 30s in particular, you end up thinking that’s you and that isn’t necessarily you.
BONNIE RAITT -
With the new ways of getting music out, you don’t need a label if you’re a legacy artist.
BONNIE RAITT






