Ravinia 2026 Issue 4

BONNIE RAITT Playing guitar from the age of , Bonnie Raitt gained a nity for the blues, and a er a couple years of college she began playing the Boston club circuit in the late ’ s. She quickly gained notoriety as one of the few women to play bot- tleneck-style slide guitar, and a er falling in with major blues manager Dick Waterman, she was performing alongside many of her idols, in- cluding Howlin’ Wolf, Sippie Wallace, and Mis- sissippi Fred McDowell. Just as quickly signed to Warner Bros., Raitt released her eponymous debut album in and earned strong reviews, not only for her guitar work but also for her vocals and soulful selection of songs. She steadi- ly climbed the charts with each of Takin’ My Time ( ), Streetlights ( ), and Home Plate ( ), culminating in the top- hit Sweet For- giveness ( ), which featured her rst main- stream hit in a cover of Del Shannon’s “Run- away.” Around the same time as Raitt released e Glow ( ), she co-organized the landmark Musicians United for Safe Energy concerts at Madison Square Garden with Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, and John Hall. ough her follow-up to ’s Green Light was caught in limbo when Warner Bros. dropped her from the label—eventually released as Nine Lives in —Raitt blazed back into the limelight in with Nick of Time , produced by Don Was on Capitol Records. e album not only topped the charts and went multi-platinum, but also swept up four Grammys, including Album of the Year honors. Its follow-up, Luck of the Draw , was also a smash, yielding two of Raitt’s greatest hits, “Something to Talk About” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Longing in eir Hearts ( ) was also a chart-topping hit with “Love Sneakin’ Up on You.” Raitt returned to the top with Best Americana Album Grammy winner Slipstream ( ), and shortly a er re- ceiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in , she released her th studio album, Just Like at… , which earned her another three Grammys, including Song of the Year honors for the title track. Bonnie Raitt rst played Ravinia in and tonight makes her sixth appearance at the festival. JONCLEARY&THE ABSOLUTEMONSTER GENTLEMEN With New Orleans style deeply engrained in his musical makeup as a multi-instrumental- ist, singer, songwriter, arranger and producer Jon Cleary nonetheless made his start on the other side of the Atlantic. Born in London in , he picked up the guitar at age and be- gan performing at on his way to working as a musician at . During his teens, Cleary grew closer to funk-infused music like LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” and Frankie Miller’s rendi- tion of “Brickyard Blues”—tracks attributed in no small part to Allen Toussaint, whose music would drive him to New Orleans in . ere, he quickly took up residence in the storied Ma- ple Leaf Bar where he built the piano chops that landed him session gigs with the likes of Earl King, Johnny Adams, Walter “Wolfman” Wash- ington, Snooks Eaglin, Ernie K-Doe, and Jessie Hill, also playing guitar for Dr. John. A er cut- ting his rst album, Alligator Lips & Dirty Rice , in , Cleary began to write, tour, and record with Taj Mahal, which led to a record deal that he used to create his Funk Headquarters studio and the album Moonburn . While working with BB King, Cleary was tapped by Bonnie Raitt to join her new band, to play keyboards, percussion, and guitar, and over the next de- cade, Raitt recorded ve of his songs; all the while, he maintained his own touring and re- cording schedule with his band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen. e group won their rst Grammy with ’s Go Go Juice , and Cleary soon struck up a partnership with John Sco eld for several tours, also joining Je Beck, Tom Jones, and Van Morrison to record for the doc- umentary Martin Scorsese Presents e Blues: Red, White & Blues . Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen have most recently re- leased So Swell ( ) and e Bywater Sessions ( ), all the while consistently winning ac- claim across New Orleans, as well as the Ascona Jazz Award in and Best International Blues Act from the UK’s JazzFM in . Having pre- viously played Ravinia with Bonnie Raitt, Jon Cleary is making his solo debut with his Abso- lute Monster Gentlemen CHARLIEBOY Charlieboy is an up-and-coming, genre-defy- ing indie/art rock group from La Crosse, WI. Known for their intricate grooves, expressive vocals, and compelling choice of tones, the band has earned headlining spots at music festi- vals and sold out numerous live performances, where the experience has been dubbed a “reli- gious experience” of “therapy rock.” Charlieboy has been building fast and steady momentum from their local scene into the Midwest and re- gions beyond since the release of their debut al- bum, People Garden , a front-to-back indie rock foundation with more than , streams and honors as the Madison Area Music Awards Rock Album of the Year and a spot among Math Rock Times ’s top albums. A multi-year guest at the Bitter Jester Music Festival, Charlieboy was named Runner-Up in the competi- tion, out of nearly bands. Alongside their own successes, the band has also partnered with the Grammys as the backing group to Carlie Hanson for the “Grammys Reimagined” You- Tube series, and they backed Hanson at the BMO Pavilion during Summerfest . Char- lieboy’s sophomore album, Creature , a -track interpersonal display of complex emotions and sonically bubble-wrapped trauma, was released in March. Charlieboy is making their Ravinia debut as a laureate of the Highland Park- based Bitter Jester Music Festival. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 17 – AUGUST 23 , 2026 70 SHERVIN LAINEZ (RAITT); STEVE RAPPORT (CLEARY); COURTESY BJMF (CHARLIEBOY)