She's written hits for everyone else. Now, at 62, Linda Perry is ready for herself
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“I’m such a weirdo, anxiety-ridden, stressed-out control freak.I don’t know how to have fun, so I’m doing my best,” Linda Perry told the crowd at a sold-out Roxy Theatre last December.It was a surprising confession.
Minutes earlier, the charismatic frontwoman of 4 Non Blondes had been laughing and smiling with her bandmates, performing new material and a pair of favorites including their 1993 hit “What’s Up?”The group’s reunion, more than three decades in the making, coincides with a new chapter for Perry: her first solo effort since 1996, the self-produced album “Let It Die Here,” and a documentary, “Linda Perry: Let It Die Here.”Today, Perry sits in the control room of her Sherman Oaks recording studio, an eclectic blend of rock and roll and zen.A console features a Daruma doll, a miniature vintage sports car and a tiny replica of Perry holding her child, Rhodes.
The main space is filled with musical instruments, a Buddha statue, a Yoda doll, a skull, and glam platform boots perched atop a piano.Photographs of icons like David Bowie, Stevie Nicks and Mick Jagger line the walls.Wearing one of her signature 10-gallon hats, layers of gold chains, a black Depeche Mode T-shirt, baggy faded jeans and brown suede platform boots, Perry exudes the magnetism of a rock star suited for center stage.
It feels inevitable that she is stepping back into the spotlight after decades spent writing, co-writing and producing music for others and composing for film and television.Yet Perry, 62, has never truly been in the shadows.Her portfolio spans an exceptional range of some of the biggest names in music — from Christina Aguilera, Dolly Parton and Pink to Ringo Starr, Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani.
She’s written hit songs, received Grammy and Golden Globe nominations and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.Even so, Perry remains her own harshest ...