Grammy Award-winning singer Linda Ronstadt, who has sold more than 30 million albums through her career that began in the 1960s, was inducted Tuesday into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Ronstadt was inducted alongside Nirvana, Kiss, Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates, and Cat Stevens,
according to the Hall of Fame website.
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Ronstadt, 67, recently revealed that she is suffering from Parkinson's disease and now "can't sing a note" because of it,
according to AARP.
Ronstadt emerged on the Los Angeles folk scene in the late 1960s and went on to have a prolific career that spanned a variety of styles, including country, new wave, and Latin music.
Ronstadt, who is half Mexican and half German, grew up singing Hank Williams and Elvis Presley songs, along with Mexican folk songs with her father,
according to Rolling Stone.
Ronstadt hit it big in 1975 when her "Heart Like a Wheel" album sold 2 million copies and went to No. 1 on the charts. She won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance that year. Her first European tour in 1976 established her as an international star.
"Heart Like a Wheel" was the first of Ronstadt's 17 gold and platinum albums in her career. She won 11 Grammys, two Academy of Country Music awards, and an Emmy over the course of her career.
Ronstadt told Billboard magazine she always aspired to greater vocal abilities.
"I always thought I couldn't sing very well," Ronstadt said. "I was always very frustrated by it, and I was always sorta disappointed by it, y'know? Everything I did always fell short of my expectations. I wasn't very good when I started, but the good news is I got better. I didn't become the greatest singer in all of pop music, but I became, at least for my time, the most diverse."
Though never married, Ronstadt had high-profile romances with California Gov. Jerry Brown and "Star Wars" director George Lucas.
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