Bonnie Raitt Answers the Proust Questionnaire The award-winning musician and activist on life on the road, everyday heroes, and reaching enlightenment.
When and where were you happiest? As a kid, my summers at camp in the Adirondacks. And as an adult, when I’m onstage.
What is your favorite journey? Away from chaos and toxicity to more joy and peace.
What is your greatest fear? That injustice, ignorance, and fascism win.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? When I’m self-involved or insensitive to others.
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Arrogance and entitlement.
Which talent would you most like to have? To be able to work on highly impactful documentaries.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Perfectionism.
What is your idea of perfect happiness? Being out in a gorgeous natural setting with time to enjoy.
What is your current state of mind? Grateful for what’s right, pissed about what’s wrong.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Balancing my inner and outer life.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Bringing more attention to musicians and causes that deserve it.
What is your favorite occupation? The one I have: musician-activist.
What do you most value in your friends? Empathy.
Who are your heroes in real life? Those who work all over the world in the most treacherous conditions to alleviate suffering: José Andrés and World Central Kitchen, Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, the thousands of doctors, nurses, emergency, fire, national guard, and recovery workers who put themselves on the line in all kinds of crises.
What is your motto? “It’s a situation, not a problem.”
Which living person do you most admire? Dolores Huerta.
What is your greatest extravagance? Taking personal time away from my obligations.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be? My older brother would still be here.
What do you most dislike about your appearance? I wish I’d listened to my mom and used sunblock more. Redhead skin in too much sun doesn’t wear well.
How would you like to die? In my sleep in my 90s, after a great gig.
What is your greatest regret? The hidden toll being on the road so much can take on your close relationships.
Where would you like to live? Ireland or Scotland.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be? Maybe as someone who reaches enlightenment in their lifetime—young enough to make a real difference in others and themselves.
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Jazz and blues fests are everywhere now, and Americana is going strong on college radio. What I'm hearing is an appreciation of real music.
Bonnie Raitt
I speak my mind and come from a place of conscience, as well as have fun as a musician.
Bonnie Raitt
I don't know if I'm a heroine; I'm just somebody that can cheer the troops by singing to folks, and have receptions after the show, and tithe a dollar of every ticket sale for all kinds of different great charities and social action groups.
Bonnie Raitt
Quakers are known for wanting to give back. Ban the bomb and the civil rights movement and the native American struggle for justice - those things were very, very front-burner in my childhood, as were the ideas of working for peace and if you have more than you need, then you share it with people who don't.
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
I think my fans will follow me into our combined old age. Real musicians and real fans stay together for a long, long time.
Bonnie Raitt
I grew up in Los Angeles in a Quaker family, and for me being Quaker was a political calling rather than a religious one.
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
I never saw music in terms of men and women or black and white. There was just cool and uncool.
Bonnie Raitt
Solar power is the last energy resource that isn't owned yet - nobody taxes the sun yet.
Bonnie Raitt
Religion is for those who are scared of hell, and spirituality is for those who have been there.
Bonnie Raitt
Life gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste.
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Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, Vol. 2, the anticipated new John Prine tribute record from Oh Boy Records, is out today. Stream/purchase HERE.
Created as a celebration of Prine’s life and career, the album features new renditions of some of Prine’s most beloved songs performed by Brandi Carlile (“I Remember Everything”), Tyler Childers (“Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You”), Iris DeMent (“One Red Rose”), Emmylou Harris (“Hello In There”), Jason Isbell (“Souvenirs”), Valerie June (“Summer’s End”), Margo Price (“Sweet Revenge”), Bonnie Raitt (“Angel From Montgomery”), Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (“Pretty Good”), Amanda Shires (“Saddle in the Rain”), Sturgill Simpson(“Paradise”) and John Paul White (“Sam Stone”). Proceeds from the album will benefit twelve different non-profit organizations, one selected by each of the featured artists.
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Bonnie Raitt - Write Me a Few of Your Lines/Kokomo Blues
60 years anniversary celebration of Arhoolie
December 10, 2020
Arhoolie Foundation celebrates it's 60th anniversary (1960-2020) with an online broadcast.
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Bonnie Raitt - Shadow of Doubt
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
October 3, 2020
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass celebrates it's 20th anniversary with an online broadcast titled “Let The Music Play On”.
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Bonnie Raitt & Boz Scaggs - You Don't Know Like I Know
Farm Aid 2020 On the Road
Sam & Dave classic written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter.
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Sheryl Crow & Bonnie Raitt - Everything Is Broken
[Eric Clapton’s Crossroads 2019]
Eric Clapton, one of the world’s pre-eminent blues/rock guitarists, once again summoned an all-star team of six-string heroes for his fifth Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2019. Held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, the two-day concert event raised funds for the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, the chemical dependency treatment and education facility that Clapton founded in 1998.
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'A Tribute To Mose Allison'
Celebrates The Music Of An Exciting Jazz Master
Raitt contributed to a new album, If You're Going To The City: A Tribute To Mose Allison, which celebrates the late singer and pianist, who famously blended the rough-edged blues of the Mississippi Delta with the 1950s jazz of New York City.
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to Bonnie Raitt about her friendship with the Mose Allison. They're also joined by Amy Allison — his daughter, who executive produced the album — about selecting an unexpected list of artists to contribute songs to the album.
Recorded on tour June 3, 2017 - Centennial Hall, London - Ontario Canada