{"id":1031544,"date":"2026-06-17T03:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T03:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1031544\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T03:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T03:39:17","slug":"the-1973-song-that-got-linda-ronstadt-fired-from-las-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1031544\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1973 song that got Linda Ronstadt fired from Las Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Linda<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ YouTube Still<\/p>\n

Wed 17 June 2026 3:00, UK <\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to forget just how fraught the US political landscape was in the 2000s, a febrile climate Linda Ronstadt<\/a> found herself caught in late in her career.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s dwarfed by today\u2019s MAGA culture wars, but the War on Terror under President George W Bush\u2019s administration paved the way for today\u2019s partisan polarisation.<\/p>\n

Patriotism began to puff its chest during the Iraq War\u2019s bloody devastation, the post-9\/11 nightmare fuelled a potent jingoism and contempt for the broader left, and any effort to speak out against the government\u2019s imperial bludgeon on the Middle-East invited a scathing response from the conservative media machine, a fact the Dixie Chicks discovered when calling out Bush during the previous year\u2019s Top of the World Tour.<\/p>\n

Ronstadt\u2019s political leanings shouldn\u2019t have been a surprise to longtime fans. Shaped by the 1960s counterculture, the singing veteran took with her all the era\u2019s liberal values and a staunch support for the Democratic Party, even dating three times Presidential primary candidate Jerry Brown<\/a>. Performances at South Africa\u2019s Sun City aside, but Ronstadt\u2019s anti-Republican position was without doubt.<\/p>\n

However, according to half of the audience at Las Vegas\u2019 Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, you at least had to keep such criticisms to yourself. Taking the stage on July 17th, 2004, just as Bush\u2019s re-election bid was underway, Ronstadt played her set as she\u2019d been doing across the country and decided to make a statement before he encore, celebrating filmmaker Michael Moore\u2019s Fahrenheit 9\/11 documentary exploring the Iraq War, as well as lambasting the era\u2019s political trajectories while dedicating such feeling to one massive Eagles hit she was due to cover.<\/p>\n

\u2018Desperado\u2019 was featured on 1973\u2019s namesake album, the Eagles\u2019 second album that would stand as a canonical folksy cut despite never finding life as a single. An outlaw metaphor exploring an old cowboy\u2019s struggles in their stoic isolation, Don Henley and Glenn Frey\u2019s introspective country number would enjoy greater stature once Ronstadt released her own take on Don\u2019t Cry Now six months later, Henley freely admitting her rendition boosted the song\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n

Jump over 30 years later, and Ronstadt\u2019s political statement ahead of her \u2018Desperado\u2019 performance was met with a mixed hall of cheers and boos, such was the division of the day.<\/p>\n

Further reading: From The Vault<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hotel-casino manager, Bill Timmins, was furious. \u201cIt was a very ugly scene,\u201d he told the Associated Press. \u201cShe praised him and all of a sudden all bedlam broke loose,\u201d later adding she, \u201cspoiled a wonderful evening for our guests and we had to do something about it. As long as I\u2019m here, she\u2019s not going to play\u201d.<\/p>\n

The world ultimately was on Ronstadt\u2019s side, however. Moore made a statement in support, the Eagles cancelled all arrangements with the Aladdin venue, and The Rolling Stones and Elton John sent telegrams of support. Ronstadt made further statements on summer tours of 2004 and 2006, celebrating Moore\u2019s documentary to little fanfare, her detractors realising quickly enough the artist was never going to just \u2018shut up and sing<\/a>\u2019 for anybody.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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