On This Day, April 7, 1990 …
Bonnie Raitt landed her first-ever #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with her 10th studio album, Nick of Time.
The album’s success was aided by a popular video for the track “Thing Called Love,” a cover of a John Hiatt tune. The video featured actor Dennis Quaid as a bar patron who flirts with the bar’s singer, played by Raitt.
The album was Raitt’s first release after getting sober and enduring years of professional struggles, including getting dropped from her label, Warner Bros. Records.
The record, her first with new label Capitol Records, turned out to be a breakthrough for the artist. Not only did it sell five million copies, but it earned Raitt three Grammys including album of the year.
In 2022, Nick of Time was chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
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