Linda Ronstadt Documentary Secures Distribution After Positive Reviews

photo: Henry Diltz

The upcoming Linda Ronstadt documentary called Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice will soon be headed to a theater (hopefully) near you. Produced in part by CNN Films, there was at least the notion the film might be broadcast on the cable news station only. But Greenwich Entertainment and 1091 have co-acquired the North American distribution rights to the film after positive reviews at film festivals, and plan to have the documentary open in theaters come September.

Featuring Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Aaron Neville, Dolly Parton, and Bonnie Raitt, The Sound of My Voice includes rare photos from Ronstadt’s childhood in Tucson, Arizona, and archival footage from many of her most iconic performances. Linda Ronstadt helps narrate the film, which covers her life up until her retirement from performing due to Parkinson’s Disease in 2011.

The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26th to mostly positive reviews, holding a 75% rating on rotten tomatoes at the moment, with the only criticisms of the film being that it’s more of a documentary-style release as opposed to a more dramatic biopic. On IMBD, the film holds a 9.4/10 rating. It also won the HBO Audience Award / Best Documentary Feature at the Provincetown Film Festival.

The film was directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman from Telling Pictures. Epstein has won two Academy Awards for his work directing documentaries previously (Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, and The Times of Harvey Milk), and Jeffry Friedman was nominated for an Academy Award for the Netflix short documentary End Game. The Linda Ronstadt documentary was produced by James Keach, Michele Farinola, Rob Epstein, and Jeffrey Friedman.

Though known just as much for being a pop and rock performer, Linda Ronstadt began her music career in country, covering many classic country songs on her early albums, and earning three #1 albums in the genre in the 70’s, as well as a Grammy Award. She also participated in the award-winning supergroup called Trio with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton, who both appear in The Sound of My Voice. Trio landed Linda her second country music Grammy in 1987.

It was also recently announced that Ronstadt will be on of this year’s recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, along with Sally Field, Sesame Street, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and Earth, Wind and Fire. The event will air on PBS December 15th.

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