Ronstadt Has No Regrets for Concert Comments

Ronstadt Has No Regrets for Concert Comments: "Three days after the dust-up in the desert, Linda Ronstadt said she had no regrets about using her concert microphone to amplify the politics of filmmaker Michael Moore and his big-screen polemic 'Fahrenheit 9/11.'

'I think it was a modest thing I did,' the 58-year-old singer said today as she reflected on a Saturday night show at the Aladdin Casino and Resort in Las Vegas that ended with a portion of the audience reacting angrily to her comments. The fans weren't the only ones riled up � the casino president was in attendance and has since banned her from the venue.

There have been about 100 calls for refunds but Ronstadt, who is in Los Angeles preparing for her show at the Universal Amphitheatre, said she will continue to give fans some food for thought from the stage.

'This is an election year. I want people to get their head up out of their mashed potatoes and learn something about the issues and go and vote,' she said by phone. 'I'm not telling them how to vote. I'm saying, get information about the issues.'

Ronstadt's scrap in Vegas comes within days of Elton John complaining that singers are pressured to eschew political commentary. A few weeks ago, Neil Youg bemoaned the music industry's impulse to neuter political songs.

Ronstadt said her career zenith in the 1970s is long gone and that in a quasi-retirement mode she has the success and boldness to say what she thinks. "Clear Channel can't threaten to not play my records because they are not going to play them anyway," she said of the radio conglomerate that has been frequently criticized for muting criticism of the Bush Administration."


By Geoff Boucher and Robert Hilburn
Times Staff Writers