Linda Ronstadt Escorted Out of Club After Own Show

[gldstwmn]

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/ar..._id=1000582932

Thanks to negotiations today (July 21) between the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC) and the prospective new owners of Las Vegas's Alladin Theater, expect to see RAC member Linda Ronstadt back at the venue this fall -- with filmmaker Michael Moore on backup vocals.

The singer was the recipient of heavy-handed treatment Saturday (July 17) when she dedicated the Eagles' "Desperado" (co-written by RAC co-founder Don Henley) to Moore, the director of the anti-President Bush documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11."

News reports said some in the audience booed, stormed out of the theater and tore down posters. Reports also said Ronstadt was escorted off the premises without being allowed to return to her dressing room, which she has subsequently denied.

After a day of negotiations, the prospective new owner of the venue, Robert Earl, Chairman and CEO of Planet Hollywood International, Inc., issued the following statement:

"We hope to be approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission to become the new owners of the Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas as early as September 1, 2004. Upon the assumption of ownership, and with a new management team in place, we would like to offer the use of the Theatre of Performing Arts to Linda Ronstadt for a second concert and further to take Michael Moore up on his offer to join her on stage to introduce her and sing a song."

"We respect artists' creativity and support their rights to express themselves," said Earl. "We were very sorry to hear about the unfortunate circumstances of this past Saturday night and want to make it clear that Planet Hollywood has never, in our 13 year history, restricted any artists' right to free speech and we will continue with that policy once we take ownership."

[Tango]

were greatly exaggerated. Nice to see The Eagles coming to her defense!

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/breakin...4ronsdadt.html

July 21, 2004
Reports of casino incident not accurate, Ronstadt says

DANIEL BUCKLEY
Tucson Citizen

Singer Linda Ronstadt was not asked to leave a Las Vegas casino Saturday after she endorsed Michael Moore's controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11," the Tucson native told the Tucson Citizen yesterday.
And she was not booed off the stage by a concert crowd that had erupted in mayhem, she said.

Speaking by phone from San Francisco, Ronstadt said that she left the Aladdin Resort & Casino immediately after the concert and was not aware that the management was irritated by her comments until an hour after she left the show.

Aladdin management declined to comment on the incident yesterday, referring the Citizen to a statement issued Monday.

The statement reads, in part:

"Ms. Ronstadt was hired to entertain the guests of the Aladdin, not to espouse her political views. In an effort to diffuse the situation, Linda Ronstadt was asked to leave the property immediately following her performance."

Ronstadt says she has made the same pitch about Moore's film at each previous show in her summer tour, just before the encore, "Desperado." The audience reaction has been a mixture of boos and cheers, she said.

"I've been doing it all across the country, and I've never seen an audience response like this in my life. This country is so completely polarized," she said.

"As soon as I start singing, ‘Desperado,' they love (the song) and they start cheering, which they've done all through my career. That's how that works, and then I finish the song and I leave."

The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press reported that Ronstadt was escorted off the property, not allowed to return to her room and booed off the stage and that people were throwing drinks by the close of her show.

None of those things happened, she said.

By her account, she had originally planned to fly out after the show to the next city on the tour but a sinus problem prompted her doctor to cancel that plan. One of her aides then booked her a room at the Aladdin, which she never saw.

After the concert, she went backstage and was about to head to the car provided for her by the Aladdin when she was confronted by an Aladdin employee.

"This woman comes huffing up to me and says, ‘I'm afraid I can't let you leave.' I said, ‘What?' And she said, ‘You can't leave yet because the owner is on his way over here to talk to you.' " the singer said.

She declined and left for the Ritz-Carlton in her tour bus when the employee said the Aladdin car would not be allowed to leave, Ronstadt said.

"I thought she was going to read me my Miranda rights or make me start writing things on the blackboard," she said.

"I didn't know they were mad at me until we were gone, and I didn't know what they were mad at me about until about an hour later, when apparently they called up one of the people that was traveling with us and went, ‘She's talking about Michael Moore, and this is a place for entertainment, not politics,' " Ronstadt said.

She has received support from a number of other celebrities, and the Aladdin's new owner, the owners of Hard Rock Cafe, called to ask her back, she said.

"Michael Moore called me and said he would go with me. We could sing, ‘America the Beautiful' together and he would screen his movie for free for anyone who wants to come and see it," she said.

"Irving Azoff, who is the Eagles' manager, immediately pulled all his acts from the Aladdin. I've had phone calls and messages from all over. Elton John sent me flowers last night. Keith Richards, Sting - the list goes on and on of people pouring in support."

She insists she was only trying to get people to think.

"I think (celebrities) should try to get people to think. I think they need to bring information to the public, she said. "The American media has been completely hijacked by corporate interests. The news is so biased, and we've got to get it through any way that we can.

"Now I don't think somebody should take my word. Because I'm a singer doesn't necessarily make me an expert in world politics, though I'm well read. But I think my obligation at this point is to try to steer people into just thinking."

She notes that while some concert promoters have asked that she not endorse Moore's movie at their venues, there is no language in her contract prohibiting her from doing so.

"I'll damn well say what I please, as I always have," she says. "And if they cancel my show, they'll just be doing me a favor. They'll still have to pay me, and I could use a day off. I have no idea how ticket sales are going, and I never worry about record sales."

Apparently not everyone is upset with the soft-rock star.

Ronstadt sang to a full-house Tuesday night at Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, and the crowd reserved its longest and loudest ovation for her endorsement of Moore's film, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.


The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.


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Those Arizona ladies can be feisty, can't they?

[jwd]

The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press reported that Ronstadt was escorted off the property, not allowed to return to her room and booed off the stage and that people were throwing drinks by the close of her show.

None of those things happened, she said.

The news is so biased, and we've got to get it through any way that we can.