Bonnie Raitt doesn’t owe you a damn thing. She’s been doing this since Nixon was in office, she’s got 13 Grammys, and she made Nick of Time, the late-career comeback album that’s basically the blueprint for every artist over 40 trying to prove they’ve still got it. And yet, here she is, dropping Dig In Deep, an album that sounds like she’s still got some scores to settle—whether it’s with an ex, the U.S. government, or just the passage of time itself.
The record swings between bluesy barroom heartbreak and righteous political fury, meaning you can cry into your whiskey and rage against the machine in the same sitting. And if that’s not enough, she even turns INXS’s I Need You Tonight into a slow-burn, slide-guitar seduction, because apparently, Bonnie Raitt can just do that.
So, how did we get here? Raitt, ever the reluctant political commentator, found herself fed up with campaign finance corruption (who isn’t?) and channeled her frustration into The Coming Round is Going Through, a song that grooves so hard you almost forget it’s about how American democracy is for sale. “Money shouldn’t be buying legislators. It’s an auction, not an election,” she tells me.
Bold words, but she’s not just another millionaire with a mic. A dollar from every ticket sold on this tour goes straight into grassroots organizations. You won’t see her slapping a hashtag on a cause and calling it activism—she’s actually putting her money where her mouth is.
If there’s one thing Bonnie Raitt knows better than most, it’s how to write a damn good heartbreak song. “I wouldn’t have a gig if people got along,” she deadpans. The problem? After decades of doing this, she’s already written every version of a breakup song at least once.
“That’s the challenge,” she says. “I have to find new ways to say it, to find songs that hit a different nerve.” Which is why she’s always hunting for songs that tell the same old stories in a new way. Gypsy in Me, for example, was literally written to sound like a Bonnie Raitt song. “The writers called me and said, ‘We figured out what people love about you and wrote a song with all that in it,’” she laughs.
Which is a little like Picasso getting a painting of himself as a gift, but when you’re Bonnie Raitt, you just roll with it.
Speaking of rolling with it, enter Joe Henry, the songwriter and producer who apparently doubles as Raitt’s personal crisis hotline. After a decade spent losing family members and dealing with some real-life blues, Raitt found herself on the phone with Henry, unloading all the grief and exhaustion that had piled up.
A few days later, he sent her a song. “He transformed what I said into this beautiful poem,” she says, still sounding a little awestruck. “That’s how much I’m indebted to him. My resurrection came out of that dark period.”
Which is a hell of a way to describe getting back in the game, but when Bonnie Raitt says it, you believe her.
At an age where most artists are either coasting on nostalgia or hawking bad duets with pop stars half their age, Bonnie Raitt is still making records with something to say. Dig In Deep isn’t an easy listen—unless, of course, you think heartbreak, political disillusionment, and staring down your own mortality sound like a great time. But if you’re in the mood for some truth wrapped in killer slide guitar, Raitt’s still got you covered.
