July 21, 2004

On July 17, Linda Ronstadt got the hook at the Aladdin in Las Vegas for having the temerity to dedicate her encore "Desperado" to Michael Moore.

She called Moore a "great American patriot" and "someone who is telling the truth," according to AP.

The Las Vegas Sun reported that she said Moore is "someone who cares about this country deeply and is trying to help."

Ronstadt's comments evidently caused a stir, with many of the almost 5,000 fans getting angry and storming out.

Aladdin President Bill Timmins, who was at the show, was not happy.

"I made the decision to ask Miss Ronstadt to leave the hotel," he told the Las Vegas Sun. "If she wants to talk about her views to a newspaper or in a magazine article, she is free to do so. But on a stage in front of four and a half thousand people is not the place for it."

Timmins banned Ronstadt from playing at the Aladdin again.

Michael Moore dashed off a letter to Timmins. "What country do you live in?" Moore wrote. "For you to throw Linda Ronstadt off the premises because she dared to say a few words in support of me and my film is simply stupid and un-American."

Ronstadt followed up her gig at the Aladdin with a show in San Diego on July 18. There she again hailed Moore as "a great American patriot and certainly the man of the hour," according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"Half the crowd heartily applauded her praise for Moore, the other half booed," the paper said. "Dozens of concertgoers angrily streamed toward the exits, while others gave her an ovation."