The First Ronstadt Superstar

It wasn’t Linda Ronstadt, although the Tucson, Arizona singer was a superstar until her retirement in 2011—11 Grammy Awards, 3 American Music awards, over 30 studio albums, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. No, Linda followed in the footsteps of her famous aunt, who was an international star decades before Linda was born in 1946.

Luisa Ronstadt Espinel, born in 1892, became an ambassador of culture as she performed throughout the United States and Europe in the early 1900s, bringing Spanish and Mexican music to the general population. She, too, grew up in Tucson and one of her albums was entitled “Songs for my Father”–the same name her niece would use decades later for her own tribute to her Mexican culture.

Luisa’s father, Frederico Ronstadt, formed one of Tucson’s first orchestras, and the entire family was musical. But it was Luisa who became the family’s first superstar as she toured the world and got rave reviews from national newspapers.