The 15 Insightful Quotes From Bonnie Raitt

It’s always thrilling to listen to any of Bonnie Raitt’s thoughts about life in general. Being one of the most cherished singer-songwriters in her era, everything that she says will always be relevant and worth noticing. She’s also a fantastic composer with lyrics that are easily quotable in any aspect of a person’s life; be it about relationships, music, career, and love. Let’s take a look at some of Bonnie Raitt’s most insightful quotes to inspire you every day.

1. “I’m just glad that I’m the musical equivalent of a character actress because blues singers can keep singing and having an audience at 35, and someone like Madonna’s gonna have to find something else to do, ‘cos I don’t care how pointy those bras are that she wears, they’re still gonna look a little odd when she’s 55!”
2. “I’m not that beautiful, and I don’t want to be a pop star.”
3. “Religion is for people who are scared to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there.”
4. “I never saw music in terms of men and women or black and white. There was just cool and uncool.”
5. “I think it’s our job to write about what we’re going through at the moment, and being 41, I’m not going to write about the same things I wrote about at 20. I don’t think artists should be farmed out to pasture just because they’re in rock n’ roll.”
6. “I would rather feel things in extreme than not at all.”
7. “I think I’m a living embodiment of, ‘Don’t try to push me around or squash me,’ whether it’s how I talk to a record label or in my relationships.”
8. “I just play the music that I love with musicians that I respect, and fortunately, I’m in a position where people are willing to play with me, and perhaps I can do something to help them.”
9. “The world I live in is benefiting from things like satellite radio. Jazz and blues fests are everywhere now, and Americana is going strong on college radio. What I’m hearing is an appreciation of real music.”
10. “I have a really full life, both within music and outside it.”
11. “A lot of political music to me can be rather pedantic and corny, and when it’s done right—like Bruce Springsteen or Jackson Browne or great satire from Randy Newman, there’s nothing better.”
12. “AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ is the greatest meshing of vocal, guitar, and content I’ve ever heard. That’s what I aspire to.”
13. “Nobody taught me to play bottleneck. I just saw it and taught myself. I got an old bottle and steamed the label off, put it on the wrong finger, I basically did everything wrong until I met some of the blues’ legends early in my career who taught me another way. I didn’t have anyone to tell me women didn’t play bottleneck.”
14. “I don’t think there’s ever been any music quite like what we came up with.”
15. “I was always drawn to the blues. Alberta Hunter at the Cookery was a life-changing experience. I only wanted to get enriched as a performer as I got older, to have an audience which got older, too, and would come to see me when I’m 80.”