“Dealing Entirely With Men”: Linda Ronstadt Once Called Out the Music Industry for Its Treatment of Women

When Linda Ronstadt was coming up in the music industry in the 70s, it was tough to be a woman in that position. Even music was a male-dominated field, and female artists had to work harder and prove themselves worthy more often than men did. Women had to have it all: natural talent, a beautiful appearance, unwavering authenticity. Men could just be mediocre and the world fell at their feet.

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In too many ways, this misalignment of power exists to this day. But there have been so many female artists who have spoken out specifically about their mistreatment in the music industry over the years. Women like Stevie Nicks, Lauryn Hill, and in recent times Lady Gaga and Chappell Roan.

Notably, Linda Ronstadt once called out the music industry for being a boy’s club, for its abuse of power and shameful treatment of women. The industry’s misguided priorities led Ronstadt to express even hatred for music and what it had become.

Speaking with Country Song Roundup in 1970, Ronstadt revealed her feelings about how women were treated in male-dominated spaces like music.

Linda Ronstadt Called Out the Music Industry and Other Artists in 1970 for Treating Female Musicians With Resentment

When asked in the 1970 interview if women faced prejudice in the music industry, Linda Ronstadt posited that “Chicks are really weird.” She then continued, “Chicks in any business is really weird.”

This may sound dismissive at first. But in context, it seems that Ronstadt is making it clear that women “in any business” is weird for the people who are used to having a lack of women in the business.

“We are dealing entirely with men. I find a lot of resentment from musicians at times,” Ronstadt explained. “If they’re behind me, it’s a threat to their masculinity. A lot of people in the television industry don’t know how to relate to a chick at all.”

However, Linda Ronstadt didn’t let the “resentment” from other artists kill her empathy. “I’m real sympathetic about it,” she said. “They’re all twisted over there. I’m not blaming anyone, it’s just very weird. They just like ya or they hate ya.”

Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns