Linda Ronstadt Quits -- Don Henley Gets Booed

'you're no good, baby, you're no good'

Published on August 11, 2004 By Gene Nash In Current Events

Linda Ronstadt's agent, Shelly Schultz, has announced that Ms. Ronstadt will be canceling all her concerts for September but insists this has nothing to do with the controversy over her nightly dedication of the song Desperado to filmmaker Michael Moore. Instead, they claim, it is so Ms. Ronstadt can spend more time with her kids.

"Linda has canceled her September schedule to be with her two children," Schultz said in a statement reported by The Associated Press. "She is a single mother and has obligations. It has been agreed that she will reschedule the dates when it is convenient for her and the venue."

A look at Ticketmaster.com shows no Linda Ronstadt appearances scheduled till March of next year.

The announcement comes just days after singer Don Henley got booed during a concert at the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, California after invoking Ms. Ronstadt's name. According to the Orange County Register, Mr. Henley began a sentence by saying, "Given what my good friend Linda Ronstadt..." only to be silenced by an "eruption" of boos. "Whoops -- Orange County," he replied, commenting on the area's well known conservative bent. "We used to be able to have civil debate in this country. Not anymore."

Comments

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 11, 2004

Henley's comment was right on the money. In a country of 284 million people, we're going to have disagreements. It is to our credit that we don't usually let them degenerate into fisticuffs, but it seems like that day is nearing. Good article, Gene.

kingbee

on Aug 11, 2004

is that why miesner had chest pains?

citahellion

on Aug 11, 2004

I'm with (I believe it was) Jilluser; if I were to go to a Don Henley concert, it would be to hear music and be entertained, not to be harangued with political BS. If he wants debate, standing on a stage in front of thousands of people is not the place for it. He got about the maximum possible level of "debate" from that situation; he expressed an opinion (siding with Linda) and the crowd expressed an opinion (siding against her).

Castle

on Aug 11, 2004

Henley's comment was right on the money

I would prefer that these types of comments, and those of other entertainers, stay "off" of the money. Unless they advertize as political commentary/concerts, they risk alienating half their fans and should expect them to promptly express their opinions. Why can't entertainers reserve their comments for interviews or have their agents issue press releases about their political opinions. At least I wont have to pay for them when I'm expecting something else. The only entertainers that don't fall into this catagory, in my opinion, are comedians. I never take light hearted political comedy personally.

KarmaGirl

on Aug 11, 2004

I'm with (I believe it was) Jilluser; if I were to go to a Don Henley concert, it would be to hear music and be entertained, not to be harangued with political BS.

I agree with that. If I was in Vegas paying big bucks to stay at the Aladdin and went to that concert, I wouldn't be too happy to hear that a) the concert wasn't what was advertised, and that the performer had a hidden agenda by expressing views about the hotel and her political leanings.

I have nothing against entertainers publicly expressing their political views- I just don't want to have to pay money to hear them. They have plenty of press time for that.

messybuu

on Aug 11, 2004

I think some entertainers are simply trying to fulfill a martyr complex.

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