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Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt is first and foremost a musician, but her screen appearances carry the same grounded, unforced quality that defines her work as a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Burbank, California, on November 8, 1949, she grew up in a musical household: her mother, Marge Goddard, was a pianist, while her father, John Raitt, was an actor and singer known for leading Broadway roles in Carousel and The Pajama Game. Raitt received her first guitar at eight and developed her style without formal lessons, drawing from the American folk revival before discovering blues and slide guitar as a teenager. After time at Radcliffe College, she moved more seriously into performance and released her self-titled debut album in 1971. Her early records earned critical respect, particularly for her interpretive instincts and bottleneck guitar playing, even when wider commercial success remained elusive. That long build is essential to the shape of Raitt’s career. Sweet Forgiveness brought a breakthrough in 1977, but the following decade included disappointing sales and the end of her Warner Bros. contract. Her fortunes changed decisively with Nick of Time in 1989. The album reached number one in the United States after her Grammy success in 1990, beginning a run that continued with Luck of the Draw and Longing in Their Hearts. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. On screen, Raitt has generally appeared as herself, letting performance do the work. She sang “Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance” in Urban Cowboy, participated in the concert film No Nukes and appeared in documentaries including Make It Funky!, Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals and Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery – The Untold Story. These appearances present an artist at ease within collaborative musical histories rather than someone chasing a separate acting career. Raitt has continued recording deep into her career. Her 2022 album Just Like That... was her twenty-first studio release, and its title track won Song of the Year and Best American Roots Song at the 2023 Grammy Awards.