Editing Linda Ronstadt (section)

=== "Trio" recordings ===
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| quote=When (we) sang, it was a beautiful and different sound I've never heard before. We (recorded the vocals) as individual parts, because we didn't have the luxury of spending a lot of time together on a tour bus ... and knowing each other's (vocal) moves ... takes years.|source=—Linda Ronstadt<ref name=MIXMag2000 />}}

In 1978, Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, and Emmylou Harris, friends and admirers of one another's work (Ronstadt had included a cover of Parton's "[[I Will Always Love You]]" on ''Prisoner in Disguise'') attempted to collaborate on a ''Trio'' album. Unfortunately, the attempt did not pan out. Ronstadt later remarked that not too many people were in control at the time and everyone was too involved with their own careers. (Though the efforts to complete the album were abandoned, a number of the recordings were included on the singers' respective solo recordings over the next few years.) This concept album was put on the back burner for almost ten years.

In January 1986, the three eventually did make their way into the recording studio, where they spent the next several months working. The result, ''[[Trio (1987 album)|Trio]]'', which they had conceived ten years earlier, was released in March 1987. It was a considerable hit, holding the number 1 position on Billboard's Country Albums chart for five weeks running and hitting the Top 10 on the pop side also. Selling over three million copies in the U.S. and winning them a [[Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal]], it produced four Top Ten Country singles including "[[To Know Him Is to Love Him]]" which hit number 1. The album was also a nominee for overall Album of the Year, in the company of Michael Jackson, [[U2]], [[Prince (musician)|Prince]], and [[Whitney Houston]].

In 1994, the three performers recorded a follow-up to ''Trio''. As was the case with their aborted 1978 effort, conflicting schedules and competing priorities delayed the album's release indefinitely. Ronstadt, who had already paid for studio time{{nsmdns}}and owed her record company a finished album{{nsmdns}}removed Parton's individual tracks at Parton's request, kept Harris's vocals, and produced a number of the recordings, which she subsequently released on her 1995 return to country rock, the album ''[[Feels Like Home (Linda Ronstadt album)|Feels Like Home]]''.

However, in 1999, Ronstadt, Parton, and Harris agreed to release the ''[[Trio II]]'' album, as was originally recorded in 1994. It included an ethereal cover of Neil Young's "[[After The Gold Rush (song)|After The Gold Rush]]" which became a popular music video. The effort was certified Gold (over 500,000 copies sold) and won them a [[Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals]] for the track. Ronstadt co-produced the album with [[George Massenburg]] and the three women also received a nomination for the [[Grammy Award for Best Country Album]].