Linda Ronstadt . . . I used to listen to her albums all the time (yes, back in the dinosaur age when we had LPs, right before the Jurrassic period) . . . I still have a copy of a videotape of her Pirates of Penzance performance (wrote a paper on it back in grad school, just after the Jurrassic) . . . at one time, she was top of the totem pole . . . not now . . . she was recently kicked off the stage during a performance in Las Vegas because she mentioned supporting Michael Moore’s Farenheit 911 film and some fans went balistic, turning over tables and ripping down posters . . . so . . .
the casino kicked her out. Not only was she removed from the stage and the casino, she was not allowed to return back to her hotel room. Granted, entertainers should think of their primary function to entertain . . . at least that’s the thinking of the casino folks . . . but it certainly is interesting to see how things have changed . . . back in the day, performers would be active in expressing their political beliefs and that made up part of their song canon . . . now, sing a wrong note in the wrong topic and you’re history. Elton John recently said that many performers are afraid to speak out agains the war in Iraq because of some very heavy handed censorship tactics. Ya gotta eats.