Linda Ronstadt didn’t do many duets with other artists, but she did do several with Aaron Neville. In 1989, the two released “Don’t Know Much” and “All My Life” together, with both of them becoming No. 1 hits. The songs are from Ronstadt’s Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind record.
Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind is not a record of duets between Ronstadt and Neville. But the album does feature Neville prominently. In fact, Neville sings on four of the tracks on Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind. In addition to the two hit singles, Neville also sings with Ronstadt on “I Need You” and “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby”.
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Both “Don’t Know Much” and “All My Life” became big hits for Ronstadt and Neville. “Don’t Know Much” became a five-week No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. “All My Life” became a two-week No. 1 hit on the same chart. In addition, both songs earned a Grammy in 1990 and 1991, respectively, for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
Why Linda Ronstadt Featured Aaron Neville on ‘Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind’
In an interview after Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind was released, Ronstadt said her reason for featuring Neville was quite simple: because she liked his voice.
“He’s just the guy every singer wants to sing with,” Ronstadt explains. “When I went to New Orleans a few years ago with Nelson Riddle and my jazz band, the first thing we wanted to do, naturally, was find the Neville Brothers. When we found out where they were playing, Aaron was on stage singing. I had no idea he even knew who I was, but he invited me up. Normally I don’t like to do those kind of things because I like to rehearse, but I just couldn’t resist.”
It was while Ronstadt was singing with Neville in New Orleans that she had the idea for what became Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind.
“So I was up there singing doo-wop songs with him, and because we sing in kind of the same key, I thought we sounded good together,” Ronstadt remembers. “Then I thought, ‘Of course you sound good with him. Every singer thinks he sounds good singing with Aaron Neville. A typist would come away thinking that it was a perfect duet.’”
Photo by: Alice S. Hall/NBC via Getty Images
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