Selena Gomez will portray Grammy-winning singer Linda Ronstadt in upcoming biopic
It's confirmed: Selena Gomez will portray the 11-time Grammy Award-winning artist Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic.
Ronstadt confirmed the news on her social media profiles Wednesday. "It all started with a simple dream 👀💕" she wrote in a post sharing Variety's article announcing the casting. She also posted the link to Rolling Stone's reporting, accompanied by three beating heart emojis.
On Tuesday, Gomez teased her upcoming role of playing the prolific Mexican American singer by posting a photo of Ronstadt's 2013 memoir, "Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir," on Instagram.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Ronstadt and Gomez for comment.
Rolling Stone was first to reveal this casting news for the film, which is reportedly in pre-production. The project is being produced by Ronstadt's manager, John Boylan, and James Keach, who directed the 2022 documentary short "Linda and the Mockingbirds" and produced a 2019 documentary about the singer's life, titled "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice."
The film won best music film at the 2021 Grammys.
More:How Linda Ronstadt fought — and won — a battle to release the Mexican folk album 'Canciones de Mi Padre'
Linda Ronstadt hasn't performed since 2009 due to a rare neurological disorder
After breaking through with "Different Drum" in 1967, Ronstadt – who is now 77 years old –became one of the most successful pop stars of her generation, sending eight songs to the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, from 1974's "You're No Good" to 1980's "Hurt So Bad."
Her 1987 album, "Canciones de Mi Padre" became the biggest-selling non-English language album in U.S. history, going double platinum and earning a Grammy for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album.
In 2009, Ronstadt gave her last performance. Two years later, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer announced her retirement, and in 2012, she received a Parkinson's disease diagnosis that explained the loss of her ability to sing.
However, in 2019, Ronstadt learned that her condition was actually progressive supranuclear palsy, "a rare neurological disorder that affects body movements, walking and balance, and eye movements," according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Listen up:The 25 best Linda Ronstadt songs of all time, ranked
"As time went on, there was something really wrong with my voice. I just lost a lot of different colors in my voice," she says in her 2019 documentary. "Singing is really complex. And I was made most aware of it by having it vanish. I can still sing in my mind but I can't do it physically."
Gomez was most recently nominated for best comedy actress at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards; Ayo Edebiri ultimately won in the category. Her Hulu show, "Only Murders in the Building," is nominated for outstanding comedy series at the Emmy Awards, which take place in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Contributing: Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic
