‘The Last Of Us’ Fans Are All In On Linda Ronstadt After Her Song Played A Key Role In The Latest Episode

The Last Of Us is one of TV’s early hits of 2023; The video game adaptation was renewed for a second season after just two episodes had aired. The third episode debuted last night and it has turned the spotlight onto Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame singer Linda Ronstadt, who was most professionally active from the late ’60s to the ’00s.

(Spoilers for the third episode of The Last Of Us are below.)

In the new episode (titled “Long Long Time”), Frank and Bill’s relationship is kicked into gear when the two of them play Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time” together on an antique piano. Given the track’s prominent role in the episode, it got fans talking about Ronstadt, so much so that she became a trending topic on Twitter after the episode aired. Fans are happy to see Ronstadt get some renewed attention, especially when it comes to the streaming royalties that are surely coming her way.

https://twitter.com/AlanHutcheson/status/1620065328188502022

Craig Mazin, series co-creator and episode writer, told IndieWire of choosing that song:

“I had the thought that this would happen, that there was a song that would be played, and that we would be surprised by who was good at it and who was bad at it. I remember saying to [series co-creator Neil Druckmann], ‘I’m not sure what the song is, I just know that it has to be this incredibly sad song about yearning for love, and never getting love, and just making your peace with the fact that you will always be alone. But it can’t be on the nose. And it can’t be a song that we all know.’”

I went through hours and hours and hours. And finally, I was like, ‘I know what to do: I’m going to text my friend Seth Rudetsky,’ who is a host on Sirius XM On Broadway, and has this encyclopedic knowledge of all music. I described what I needed and within 30 seconds, it was [incoming text noise] ‘Long, Long Time by Linda Ronstadt.’ I kinda remembered that song. I played it and was like, ‘Oh, my. There it is.’”

Listen to “Long, Long Time” and check out some more Ronstadt tweets below.

Linda Ronstadt is a Warner Music artist. .