Fans speculated the news after Gomez posted an Instagram Story of the legendary singer’s memoir
Selena Gomez will portray Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic, Rolling Stone confirms.
Fans began to speculate online about the potential casting after Gomez posted an Instagram Story of Ronstadt’s 2013 memoir Simple Dreams (in another story, she also announced she’s taking a break from social media). The biopic is currently in pre-production, with Ronstadt’s manager, John Boylan, and James Keach co-producing. Additional casting details and a release date have not yet been announced.
Ronstadt and Gomez are both of Mexican descent. In 2022, Ronstadt released her album Feels Like Home, which contained stories of her heritage and Sonoran recipes. The 2020 film Linda and the Mockingbirds — directed by Keach — chronicled her visit to Mexico with Jackson Browne the year before, where they worked with the students of Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy.
The documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice was later released in 2019. Helmed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the film traced her incredible multi-genre career that stretched nearly five decades, including her domination of the country rock scene in the Seventies, her Pirates of Penzance Broadway moment, and more. “I was tired at the end [of watching it],” she told Rolling Stone. “I thought, ‘I can’t believe I did that much stuff!’”
Ronstadt retired from singing after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2012. Her final performance was three years prior, at San Antonio’s Municipal Auditorium (“They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die,” she told us, “But it does when you retire from singing, too”). In 2021, she sold her catalog to Irving Azoff‘s Iconic Artists Group.
Recent biopics about Queen, Elton John, Mötley Crüe, and Elvis Presley introduced their music to an entirely new generation. It seems like a safe bet this phenomenon will happen for Ronstadt after this movie hits theaters.