True Talent

Fresh off her Grammy win, the artist brings her roots-inspired catalog to Vegas

You don’t have to imagine Bonnie Raitt ’s surprise when she won the Grammy for Song of the Year in February. It was written on her face after First Lady Jill Biden announced “Just Like That” had been chosen over nominations for tracks by Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Lizzo. Raitt left the ceremony with three Grammys, but her Song of the Year win provided the show’s most unexpected moment.

The title track of the most recent album by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and reigning queen of slide guitar depicts a mother who meets the recipient of a donor organ from her deceased son. “The story was so simple and beautiful for these times,” she said to the audience. “And people have been responding to the song partly because of how much I love, and we all love John Prine.”

Raitt explained the late singer-songwriter’s music and ability “to tell a story from the inside” inspired “Just Like That,” which also won Best American Roots Song. Album opener “Made Up Mind” took Best Americana Performance honors for a career total of 13 Grammys. It had been a decade since she last took home a Best Americana Album award for 2012’s Slipstream. Last year she was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Digital sales and streams for “Just Like That” exploded in the wake of her wins. It’s almost a repeat of the success of her breakthrough album, 1989’s Nick of Time, which swept the Grammys and permanently launched Raitt into the pantheon of legendary musicians.

Prine’s passing during the first wave of COVID not only inspired a Grammy-winning song but moved Raitt to write album highlight “Livin’ for the Ones,” an uptempo rouser about moving forward in the wake of loss. His influence is more apparent when Raitt covers his “Angel from Montgomery,” a song she recorded early in her career and has played more than any other in concert. Hopefully you’ll hear it at her Vegas shows this week. –Matt Kelemen

The Venetian, 8 p.m. March 15, 17-18, starting at $49 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com