Bonnie Raitt brings tour to Modesto

For an artist who broke through with a “Nick of Time,” Bonnie Raitt has had no problems with staying power.

The 65-year-old soulful blues rocker known for her smooth voice, masterful slide guitar and signature streak of white hair comes to the Gallo Center for the Arts for a sold-out show Wednesday, May 20.

The multiplatinum recording superstar picked up her 10th Grammy Award for her 19th studio release, “Slipstream.” Since her 1989 breakthrough with “Nick of Time,” which earned her an armful of Grammys including album of the year, Raitt has performed and toured nearly nonstop.

Hits like “Something to Talk About,” “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” “Not the Only One” and “Love Sneakin’ Up On You” made her a 1990s radio staple. Along the way her artistry earned the respect of fans and other musicians alike. Rolling Stone magazine put her on both its 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time lists.

Still, after her 2005 album “Souls Alike,” Raitt decided to step away from music and the spotlight for a little while. It took her seven years to return, but when she did she roared back with the critically acclaimed “Slipstream” in 2012, her first independent release. The album cracked the Billboard Top 10 and made many top critics lists for the year including the New York Times and People magazine. It went on to win the best Americana album Grammy.

Raitt has been touring in support of “Slipstream” since and continues it with her Gallo Center stop. In 2013 she also released her double disc, “Now & Then.” The release repackages her “Slipstream” album and bundles it with a career-spanning retrospective. The limited-edition package featured 16 other favorites including “Angel From Montgomery,” “Thing Called Love” and “Love Me Like a Man.”

When she returned to the stage behind “Slipstream,” Raitt told CNN the break has been good for her.

“I got my appetite back for it, and I started going to gigs and really missing it,” she told the news network. “I wanted to take that break so I would miss it enough.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Bonnie Raitt brings tour to Modesto."