‘Guilty!” a lone voice cries out from the back of London Palladium, where blues legend Bonnie Raitt has just introduced a song for those who have experienced heartbreak. The voice speaks for everyone in the venue, and the song is I Can’t Make You Love Me – a ballad which Raitt transformed into the most universally shattering song about a breakup this side of Roy Orbison.
It’s one of many songs tonight where Raitt’s laidback-but-rip-your-guts-out take on classic themes of love and endurance is in full bloom. In front of a star-studded audience of peers including Joan Armatrading, Raitt runs through hits (Nick of Time, Something To Talk About, Love Sneakin’ Up On You) and covers (Angel From Montgomery, BB King’s Never Make Your Move Too Soon, INXS’s Need You Tonight) that underscore her fluent dexterity and the connective tissue of roots music. Each song is a homage to those who have come, or sadly gone, before her, with numbers dedicated to late friends and collaborators including Zimbabwean musician Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi and John Prine.
