Before Linda Ronstadt Became a Superstar, One Monkee-Written Song Changed Everything
In 1967, Linda Ronstadt was still years away from becoming one of the biggest female singers in America.
She was living in Los Angeles, singing in a folk-rock trio called The Stone Poneys with Kenny Edwards and Bobby Kimmel.
Money was tight.
Ronstadt later remembered making only enough to cover a simple life near the beach, playing clubs and trying to figure out whether music could become something more than a dream.
Then one song changed the direction of everything.
“Different Drum.”
The song had been written by Michael Nesmith, who would soon become famous as a member of The Monkees.
Its message was unusual for a female pop singer in the 1960s.
Instead of begging a man to stay, the narrator does the opposite.
She tells him that they want different things.
He wants commitment.
She wants freedom.
And she is willing to walk away.
For Linda Ronstadt, that independent attitude fit naturally.
The Stone Poneys recorded the song for their second album, Evergreen, Volume 2.
But the session itself was already pointing toward Linda’s future.
Producer Nick Venet brought in outside session musicians and built a more elaborate arrangement around her voice.
Suddenly, the group’s young female singer was standing at the center of the record.
Released in 1967, “Different Drum” became the Stone Poneys’ breakthrough hit, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. citeturn249417search1
And something important happened afterward.
People began noticing Linda Ronstadt separately from the band.
Her voice was clear, powerful and emotionally direct.
The Stone Poneys would not last much longer, but the attention created by “Different Drum” followed Linda into the next stage of her career.
By 1969, she had released her first solo album.
The transition was not instantly easy.
Several years passed before she became a dominant chart star.
But Ronstadt kept experimenting with country, rock, folk and pop, refusing to stay inside one musical box.
Then, in 1974, everything exploded.
Her album Heart Like a Wheel reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, while “You’re No Good” became her only No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. The Recording Academy identifies that album as the moment she emerged as a major solo artist. citeturn249417search11
From there came one of the most versatile careers in American popular music.
Ronstadt would sing rock.
Country.
Standards.
Opera.
Mexican traditional music.
And duets with artists as different as Aaron Neville and Emmylou Harris.
But before the platinum albums, Grammys and sold-out arenas, there was “Different Drum.”
A song about refusing to follow someone else’s path.
That makes its place in Linda Ronstadt’s story almost perfect.
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Because after that record, she spent the rest of her career doing exactly the same thing:
following her own.
