Trisha Yearwood Explains How She Drew Inspiration From Linda Ronstadt

Trisha Yearwood has herself been an idol for aspiring singers for more than 20 years, but long before she was famous, Yearwood says that she had an idol of her own: Linda Ronstadt.

At a recent appearance at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Yearwood explained that Ronstadt "was kind of the queen of rock 'n' roll in the ‘70s, but she had steel guitar and fiddles on her records, and she had a really big voice.

"I was always drawn to female singers that had really big, strong voices, and the only female singer I had heard before that was Patsy Cline, who was gone before I was born," Yearwood notes. "So when I heard Linda Ronstadt, I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do' ... And then that led me to discovering Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Karla Bonoff."

The 51-year-old understands that, between her music and her culinary career -- not to mention being married to one of the biggest superstars of all time, Garth Brooks -- she is well known all over the world, and it's a responsibility that she doesn't take lightly.

"... When we meet people, it’s important to me that I want them to feel that I’m just like them, that I’m a regular person, because I totally am. Sometimes people think because of what we do that we’re not the same," Yearwood says. "I spend a lot of time at meet and greets making people comfortable because I think you just want to have a personal connection. People don’t ask a lot of business questions or career questions; they just want to hang out for a few minutes."

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