I wanted to respond to the incredible outpouring of messages that have come in since my song, “Just Like That,” won the GRAMMY award last Sunday night for Song of the Year.

I’ve been so deeply moved, often to tears, reading the personal stories of hundreds of you, some of whom have had no familiarity with me or my music before I won that GRAMMY, and were curious why this song had won. After listening, many of you wrote that you were
moved to tears, even inspired to share your own heart-wrenching stories of either having your loved one’s life saved by an organ donation, or having decided at the height of the terrible shock and loss of losing a beloved, that you would donate their organs so that others could live.

These stories and your responses to my song have moved me as much as anything I can remember and I want to thank you so much for this gift. So many messages from nurses and doctors in the field involved with transplants as well as people who were tragically not able to get an organ in time to save their loved one’s life. There are messages from the family members of people who wanted their organs to be donated, but are now living with the guilt when that wish, for whatever reason, was not able to be fulfilled.. These stories run the gamut and I’m just blown open by the vulnerability and power of each of them.

I am so honored that my song and the original news story that inspired it, are eliciting such a deep emotional response for so many. The story behind the song is this: A few years ago I saw a segment on the evening TV news where they followed a woman who was meeting the man who had received her son’s heart for the first time. It was very emotional, but when he invited her to put her head on his chest and listen to her son’s heart, I just lost it. I knew after it stayed with me for weeks, that I wanted to write my own story, inspired so much by John Prine’s music and his beautiful “Angel From Montgomery,” which I’ve sung every show since hearing it in the early 70’s. I wrote about a fictional woman, Olivia Zand, torn by grief and guilt at the loss of her young son, who finds redemption and grace through the loving act of another.

May the song bring about even more awareness and motivation for more of us to support organ donation registration and infrastructure — removing obstacles that have hindered helping thousands connecting to facilitate this miraculous gift of life and help bring comfort to those suffering such tragic loss. I’ve included a link here to organdonor.gov to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor in an effort to more directly connect to and support the 104,085 men, women, and children currently on the national transplant waiting list.

Thank you all so much again for your incredible responses and sharing your beautiful stories. More than any award, fame or commercial success, knowing what my song means to so many may be the greatest gift of all.

Blessings to you,
Bonnie

P.S. To read these many responses, please visit the “Just Like That” lyric video at the following link and read the comments below the video. https://youtu.be/Skd0XR3twCA

Photo by Ken Friedman

I’m still reeling. So grateful to everyone who helped bring me to last night. Thanks to the [tag] Recording Academy members who voted for me; to all the members of our mighty [tag] Redwing Records and support team: to my band, our brilliant engineer, Ryan Freeland, and to my wonderful road crew—I thank you all for helping me get our music out to the world.

And to all the friends, family and fans who lift me up with their steady love and support.

And lastly, to [tag] John Prine and all the songwriters who keep inspiring and giving us the joy of sharing their music.
I’m just bowled over..

Love,
💜Bonnie

Read Bonnie’s Song of the Year acceptance speech and watch all three acceptance speeches below:

Oh, my gosh. Oh, I’m so surprised. I don’t know what to say. This is just an unreal moment. Thank you for honoring me, to all the academy that surrounds me with so much support and appreciates the art of songwriting as I do. I was so inspired for this song by the incredible story of the love and the grace and the generosity of someone that donates their beloved’s organs to help another person live, and the story was so simple and so beautiful for these times.

And people have been responding to the song partly because of how much I love and we all love John Prine, and that was the inspiration for the music for this song and telling a story from the inside. … I don’t write a lot of songs, but I’m so proud that you appreciate this one and what this means for me and for the rest of the songwriters. …

I would not be up here tonight if it wasn’t for the art of the great, soul-digging, hard-working people that put these songs and ideas to music. So I thank my team for helping me get this record out. And thank you so much. I’m just totally humbled. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Song of the Year “Just Like That”: https://youtu.be/4SGDteHRh4Q

Best American Roots Song “Just Like That”: https://youtu.be/XZetqbo60aA

Best Americana Performance “Made Up Mind”: https://youtu.be/s6_Ys0H8drw

Thank you all for your wonderful congratulations on my Grammy wins. l’m still processing and basking in the glow.

I want to share Sheryl’s post from yesterday where she explained the unfortunate technical glitch that marred our otherwise beautiful tribute to Christine McVie at Sunday night’s GRAMMYs show.

It was a very challenging situation, especially for such an important moment in the live broadcast. Sheryl, Mick and I were grateful to hear that the broadcast engineer caught the problem and was immediately able to switch and send the correct keyboard sound to those of you watching at home.

We were very dismayed to hear that unfortunately, those listening in the audience—our friends, peers, and fans — were hearing what we were hearing as well which was the broken keyboard playing in both the wrong key and none of the notes she was actually playing.

How Sheryl managed to play and sing anything close to the song, especially in that highly emotional, live moment, is a testament to her professionalism and artistry.

Technical problems happen, especially on live TV, but we wanted to be forthcoming about why things may have seemed off.

We were so grateful to be able to pay tribute to our beloved Christine. There will never be anyone like her and I love what Sheryl and Mick say at the bottom of her post below.

— Bonnie

Sheryl’s message:

Beautiful Christine! Last night during our Recording Academy / GRAMMYs tribute, something really strange happened. I sat down to play with Bonnie and Mick and the piano was not working right. I still cannot wrap my brain around it because I’ve never had it happen but the clock started for Mick and the first chord I played, only a couple of notes at a time would play. At one point, the piano in our ears was in a different key than what I was playing!

Thankfully, the broadcast mixer noticed something was off and switched over to the microphones. So to everyone else it sounds completely normal. But for us, the digital patch that was what we heard in our ears was CRAZY! 😩🤯

Needless to say, I was disappointed but Mick and I decided after the performance that perhaps Christine might be up there sipping champaign and giggling, having been a keyboard player herself.❤️

So happy for my friend, Bonnie though!! What a night!

“Long renowned as an interpreter, she has quietly built a catalog of her own. Up for song of the year on Sunday, she talked about her nominated track, ‘Just Like That,’ and a lifetime onstage.” — Jon Pareles, The New York Times

Read the full feature here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/arts/music/bonnie-raitt-grammys-just-like-that.html

Photo: Peter Fisher for The New York Times

Congratulations to all of the nominees for the 65th GRAMMY® Awards! Bonnie and all of us at BRHQ are incredibly proud that her album ‘Just Like That…’ has earned four GRAMMY® nominations at today’s announcement.

We are pinching ourselves over here at Redwing Records and we’re so grateful to everyone who loves this album and has helped spread the word.  Bonnie wants to send out a special thank you to all those members of The Recording Academy who voted for her nominations.

And to all her fellow musicians, songwriters and her brilliant engineer, Ryan Freeland, for helping make this album as special as it is. Thanks everybody! — BRHQ

‘Just Like That…’ is out now, in all formats!
https://lnk.to/justlikethat_br

JUST ANNOUNCED! Bonnie’s ‘Just Like That…” Tour will continue in 2023 with stops in the U.S. (including the West Coast, Midwest and Hawaii,) Ireland and the UK! The Fan Presales for these shows will begin tomorrow November 15th at 10am local time at bonnieraitt.com. Register for the FREE Fan Community to gain access to these presales (that include some of the best seats in the house.) Visit the Members page to get ready for tomorrow!

In an interview with Jesse Sendejas for the Houston Press ahead of her shows in Texas this week, Bonnie reflected on her music career so far, the process of writing and recording her latest album, and many of the Texans who helped support her over the years. She wants to be sure and include her dear friend and brilliant guitarist, songwriter and producer, Stephen Bruton, who sadly passed away in 2009.

“None of us wanted to be put in a box, and that’s one of the reasons I always felt so comfortable in Texas,” she said. “It was… really the home of some of the funkiest music and… soulful songwriting.”

Check out the full article here:

https://www.houstonpress.com/music/things-to-do-bonnie-raitt-smart-financial-centre-at-sugar-land-november-4-2022-14424655

Photo with Jimmie Vaughan at the 2017 "Harvey Can't Mess With Texas" benefit concert in Austin

Bonnie and Capitol Records/Universal Music Enterprises are proud to present the re-release of all 13 of her Capitol Records-era music videos made between 1989 – 2006, available now in remastered High Definition video on her Official website and Official YouTube Channel! It’s been a long time coming and we are so proud and excited to share these videos upgraded to the highest visual quality. Watch “Thing Called Love,” “Love Letter,” “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” “Love Sneakin’ Up On You,” “Not The Only One” and more. Visit bonnieraitt.com/video/capitol-records-era-music-videos to enjoy these quintessential moments from Bonnie’s time with Capitol Records as they’ve never been experienced before. — BRHQ

By Geoff Bennett
By Andrew Corkery

Music legend and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Bonnie Raitt is out with her twenty-first album called “Just Like That.” It’s her first new release in more than six years, and has landed at No. 1 on six different Billboard charts since its release. Geoff Bennett sat down with Raitt to discuss her dynamic 50-year career and what she’s learned about herself along the way. WATCH THE INTERVIEW

RollingStone.com
By Emily Zemler

Bonnie Raitt slowed things down with a soulful rendition of her song “Blame It on Me” on The Late Show. The musician and her band gave the track a bluesy, intimate vibe, which was aided by the dim, moody lighting on the late-night show stage. READ MORE AND WATCH THE PERFORMANCE: https://bit.ly/3HugfQs