This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross. Linda Ronstadt has just published

a new memoir. Over the course of her career, Ronstadt sold over 100 million records,

one 11 Grammys, and by the end of the 70s was the highest paid woman in rock. Her hits

included You're No Good, Heart Like a Wheel, Desperado, and Blue Bayou. Her rise to stardom

coincided with the height of the counter-culture, making her a focal point in a world far removed

from her Catholic upbringing in Tucson. But she didn't remain tied to the popular music

of her time. Against the recommendation of her record label, she recorded an album of

standards with a Ranger Nelson riddle that turned into a surprise hit. And she recorded albums

of the Mexican song she learned from her Mexican grandfather and her father. But in the

early 2000s, she began to feel her voice was slipping. In 2011, after many years struggling

to maintain her voice, she called an end to her singing career.

Terry interviewed Linda Ronstadt in 2013 about her first memoir Simple Dreams. They spoke

a month after Ronstadt revealed that she had Parkinson's disease and could no longer

sing. The diagnosis was later changed to Progressive Super Nuclear Palsy. Ronstadt's

new memoir, Feels Like Home, a song for the Sennoron Borderlands, is an exploration of

her Mexican roots and includes recipes of the dishes she grew up with. It was co-written

by journalist Lawrence Downes. Before we hear our interview with Linda Ronstadt, let's

start with her song that was a number one hit in 1975.

Linda Ronstadt, welcome to Fresh Air. It is a great pleasure to have you on our show.

Thank you so much. Well, I want to talk with you about your childhood and your family

tree reading your memoir. I was astonished by the richness of your family tree. So let's

start with your grandfather who was born in Mexico and had a hardware store in Arizona.

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