Washington: Shirley Eckhardt, the songwriter behind Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy-winning 1991 hit “Something to Talk About,” died at the age of 67 on Thursday at Headwaters Health Care Center in Orangeville, Ontario, due to complications from cancer. According to Deadline, a US-based news outlet, Cher, Emmylou Harris, Anne Murray and Chet Atkins were among the artists who covered Eckhardt’s tunes in addition to Ratt.
In 1985, Eckardt wrote “Something to Talk About”, although he had trouble at first recognizing it for its potential. Several years later, Raitt left Eckhardt a message on his phone, saying that he had recorded the song from a demo Eckhardt had received. The song, which spent 20 weeks and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, was the lead single from Raitt’s 1991 album Luck of the Draw. At the 1992 Grammy Awards, Raitt won Best Pop Vocal Performance, while her album was nominated for Record of the Year.
Raitt remembered Eckhardt on Twitter, saying she was “deeply saddened,” adding, “I will be forever grateful for our beautiful relationship and friendship.”
In 1973 and 1974, Eckhardt received several BMI Awards as well as a Juno Award for Best Country Female Artist, according to a Variety report. In October 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. On My Way To You, his most recent album, was released in 2021. His career spanned from 1972 to 2021 and included 18 full-length albums. In addition, Eckhardt sang the theme song for the 2000 film The Passion of Ayn Rand and the 1976 picture The Domino Principle, which was directed by Stanley Kramer and starred Gene Hackman and Candice Bergen.