Selena Gomez will play Linda Ronstadt in the upcoming biopic about the singer’s life

It has been confirmed that the actress and singer Selena Gomez (Only murders in the building) has officially signed on to star in a biopic about the singer-songwriter musician’s life Linda Ronstadtbased on his 2013 memoir, Simple dreams. The rumors had been circulating for the past few months, but weren’t confirmed until Gomez posted a photo from the memoir as an Instagram story.

The film is in pre-production, with co-producers James Keach and Ronstadt’s longtime manager, John Boylan. Further casting and release dates have not been announced.

Keach directed the 2020 film Linda and the Mockingbirdsa documentary that recounts a journey undertaken by Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and a group of younger musicians in the Mexican town of Banámichi in the state of Sonora, the birthplace of Ronstadt’s grandfather.

Both Gomez, who has had successful music careers in addition to acting, and Ronstadt are of Mexican descent, and Ronstadt wrote at length about her heritage in her 2013 memoir. The singer returned to the topic in her 2022 book It Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands.

Despite her retirement in 2012 following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease – the diagnosis was revised seven years later to progressive supranuclear palsy, a Parkinson’s-like degenerative disease that left Ronstadt unable to sing – Ronstadt and her music are back in the spotlight in recent months. Last year his 1970 recording of “Long Long Time” was highlighted on an episode of The last of usand trailers for Ryan Murphy’s upcoming FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans make heavy use of Ronstadt’s 1974 smash hit “You’re No Good.”

The documentary of 2019 Linda Ronstadt: The sound of my voicedirected by Rob Epstein AND Jeffrey Friedmanoffered an in-depth retrospective of her life and career, featuring on-screen appearances and interviews by Ronstadt and her many friends and fellow musicians, including Browne, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Kevin Kline, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt AND JD Souther.

It will be great to see who else is cast in the film to play the various musicians in Ronstadt’s life. I love Linda Ronstadt. Her voice was one that I know has been in my life since I was born, and I have always had a special place in my heart for the songs “Long Long Time” and “Different Drum.” I can’t wait to see Gomez take on the role and sing her heart out as this beloved singer.

via: Deadline