Who Is Bonnie Raitt? Details About the Grammy-Winning Singer

We all have a story, and Bonnie Raitt has definitely got an interesting tale to tell. She was born in November 1949 to parents John Raitt and Marjorie Haydock in Burbank, California. Her father was a Broadway star and her mom was a professional piano player, so music was in her blood.

Bonnie, 70, started honing her talents when she learned to play the guitar at a young age. But instead of taking classes, she was teaching herself and with a little bit of rehearsal each and every day. She quickly learned how to play slide guitar, a technique widely practiced by blues musicians. Essentially, you place an object against the strings of your instrument to create a new sound.

“I’m glad I get singled out for my slide guitar-playing, which isn’t that difficult to do. I didn’t take guitar lessons, but I just love the way it sounds, almost like the human voice,” Bonnie once told Pitchfork. “With slide guitar, you’re just hanging this piece of glass on your hand. It’s a really beautiful instrument in that it’s so responsive, you’re just slipping your hand back and forth.”

“But I’m glad people think I’m a badass,” the “Something to Talk About” singer continued. “I’m a rock ‘n’ roller, and I’m an R&B and a blues woman. I don’t do fairy music, although I love Celtic music and sensitive music. There’s a balance between ballads and kick-ass songs.”

With her unique style, Bonnie has changed the music industry. She received a lot of success for her album Nick of Time and she’s won 10 Grammys in her career so far.

“I hope that people will really appreciate the music that I turned them onto,” she explained. “I would like to inspire a lot of people to be active and give back. I hope I’m an integrous person who cleans up their messes when I’ve been a jerk. I got a lot of people to support and a lot of causes, so I can’t slack. I just want to be as good a person as I can be.”

Scroll below to learn more about Bonnie!

Is Bonnie Married?

Not currently. Bonnie was married from 1991 to 1999 when she was wed to actor Michael O’Keefe. However, the pair ended up getting a divorce because of their busy schedules. “Their different professions drove them apart,” an insider previously told People. “But for a while they did try to make it work.”

Since their divorce, Bonnie hasn’t remarried. However, Michael did find love again with Homeland star Emily Donahoe. They tied the knot in 2011.

Does Bonnie Have Kids?

No, she doesn’t. However, in “Nick of Time,” Bonnie has talked about the struggles women face when they want to get pregnant in their late 30s. “A friend of mine, she cries at night / And she calls me on the phone,” she sang. “Sees babies everywhere she goes / And she wants one of her own.”

While explaining that verse to the Wall Street Journal, the “Love Has No Pride” singer said, “I began thinking about the most poignant aspects of my life. That’s when the first verse of “Nick of Time” came to me. A dear friend had told me a painful story that echoed what several other friends in their late 30s were going through. A lot of them wanted children and it either wasn’t happening or they hadn’t met the right guy yet. Time was running out.”

Has Bonnie Ever Encountered Any Personal Struggles?

Yes, she has. In fact, the singer wrote “Nick of Time” after getting sober.

“I just went, ‘This don’t look as good or feel as good at 37 as it did at 27.’ And I looked around at friends of mine who got their lives changed,” she explained about her partying ways to Pitchfork. “When I saw my friends play sober, I went, ‘Oh christ.’ I thought I was owing it to the world to be the last of the red hot blues mamas, but I wasn’t kidding anyone but myself. And the first gigs I did that first year being sober, I didn’t miss it at all.”

What did we tell you? Bonnie has lived one hell of a life!