Born 77 Years Ago Today In Burbank, She Turned Being Dropped By Her Label Into Grammy Gold

Though popular music is full of tales of sad self-destruction and crestfallen heroes, it's also got its redemption arcs. Such was the case with Bonnie Raitt, a rockin' U.S. national treasure who's such a household name that it's hard to believe she almost vanished into obscurity before the '90s even hit. But rather than vanish, she turned her life and fortunes around to forever cement her status in rock history.

Born to a Quaker family in Burbank, California, on November 8, 1949, Raitt's parents were just as heavily involved in politics as they were music. Raitt got started playing music at 8 years old when she received her first guitar as a Christmas present, and at first treated it more as a hobby than anything more serious. She moved east to attend school at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute in 1967, but couldn't help being pulled into the local music and activism scene. Her biggest musical inspirations — blues artists such as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker — helped shape her own style during this time. By 1971, her coffeehouse guitar shows had transformed into a debut record with Warner Bros., simply called "Bonnie Raitt." 

It took until 1977 for Raitt to land on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Runaway" at No. 57. However, all of Raitt's biggest hits, including "Something to Talk About" and "I Can't Make You Love Me," come from the '90s. The same is also true for nine of Raitt's 13 Grammys and two of her top four best-selling albums. Yet that career high was preceded by a career low that Raitt turned around through sheer determination and committed sobriety.

Bonnie Raitt's 10-year gap between 1979's "The Glow" and 1989's aptly named "Nick of Time" tells everything about her story. Her label remained unimpressed with her record sales moving into the '80s, especially because she was never a trend chaser (and proudly so; Raitt is happy people think she's a badass). Raitt was also dealing with serious personal issues at the time. Come 1983, her label since her debut, Warner Bros., dumped her. They did so even though she'd already cut an album set for release, which they went ahead and released anyway in 1986: "Nine Lives." 

True to that album's name, Raitt persevered. A year later in 1987, she made the choice to get sober, and with the help of some friends, more or less resurrected herself. She cut some demos with some basic gear in hand, managed to get signed to Capitol Records, and looked to musician and producer Don Was to produce her upcoming album that same year, 1989's "Nick of Time." It was like starting all over again at 40 years old, which Was says "Nick of Time" is actually about.

"Nick of Time" was such a success that it went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, stayed there for three weeks, and garnered Raitt three out of four Grammys in 1990. It also paved the way for 1991's "Luck of the Draw," which went to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and produced Raitt's biggest hit, "Something to Talk About," which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2000, less than 10 years later, Raitt was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.