Linda Ronstadt Will Not Get Paid For 'Long Long Time' Being Featured in HBO's 'The Last of Us'
Linda Ronstadt is opening up about her song “Long Long Time” having a new moment in the spotlight.
If you don’t know, the track was featured in HBO’s The Last of Us last week, as part of a story arc with Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett.
While speaking to Billboard about the resurgence of the song, Linda revealed that she won’t be getting any money because of the spike in streams.
Keep reading to find out why that is…
During her interview with Billboard, Linda said that she doesn’t “follow social media or streaming services very closely,” before saying that it’s writer Gary White who should be getting the press about it.
“I still love the song and I’m very glad that Gary will get a windfall,” she added.
She then recalled of meeting Gary “through guitarist David Bromberg, who took me to the Café Au Go Go in Greenwich Village to see Gary performing with Paul Siebel. After the show, Gary played me ‘Long Long Time’ and I immediately wanted to record it. It wasn’t a country song, wasn’t a folk song, or a rock song, but I thought it was a really good song.”
While talking about the song’s newfound popularity, Linda then shared why she wouldn’t be getting any royalties from it – she sold her catalog!
Linda put up her music for purchase in 2021, and the assets included royalty streams from her master recordings and ownership of some masters.
Her manager, John Boylan added, “She’s not unhappy about it, believe me. We sold her catalog. The last four or five years have been a complete tsunami of buyouts like this.”
There have been a handful of other artists have also been selling their own catalogues.