Do you agree with this ranking of Linda Ronstadt's Top 10 songs?

The Tucson icon earned a Tony nomination for her starring role in "Pirates of Penzance" on Broadway, interpreted standards on a trilogy of albums tracked with famed arranger Nelson Riddle, and honored the Mexican side of her heritage on mariachi albums sung in Spanish.

She also recorded two albums as part of a trio with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton.

The thread connecting all those very different projects is the strength of her vocal performances and her ability to get inside the essence of a song. And through it all, as Ronstadt's friend and former bandmate Glenn Frey said while inducting Ronstadt to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, "she remains nothing but authentic."

Ronstadt turned 80 on Wednesday, July 15.

To honor the occasion, we counted down her 40 best songs as chosen by a longtime fan who fell in love with "Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits" in grade school, going on to work his way back through her catalog while eagerly awaiting each new move like any other fan.

You can see the rankings of all 40 here. And here are the Top 10: 

10. 'It's So Easy' (1977)

The most successful of the several Buddy Holly songs Ronstadt covered in the '70s, it peaked at No. 5 on Billboard's Hot 100. What makes that chart position all the more impressive is that Holly's version, his final release at the helm of the Crickets, never even charted.

Ronstadt's gritty reinvention puts a California country-rock spin on what was once a rockabilly song, from an opening riff that wasn't on the Holly version to Ronstadt's snarling delivery and the use of cowbell. The opening track on "Simple Dreams," it couldn't sound more like a record made in California in the '70s. But in a good way. And those harmonies when everything drops out except the drummer playing hi-hat are sensational.

9. 'I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)' (1974)

Long before they got together on "Trio," Emmylou Harris turned up singing harmonies on this highlight of "Heart Like a Wheel," a melancholy take on a Hank Williams classic with pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow underscoring the heartache.

The lead vocal is suitably wounded, picking up a Grammy — Ronstadt's first! — for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female, and the vocal blend is country gold, especially on "It's hard to know another's lips have kissed you." This one peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's country chart, much like Williams' original.

8. 'Hurt So Bad' (1980)

This soulful ballad was a Top 10 hit in 1965 for Little Anthony and the Imperials. Ronstadt's version makes you feel the hurt with more conviction, from the trembling vulnerability of the opening lines to the full-throated pleas of "please don't go" coming out of the bridge.

And speaking of that bridge, her final plea is met by the opening notes of Danny Kortchmar's searing lead guitar break, mixed ridiculously high to outstanding effect. The second Top 10 hit from "Mad Love," an exhilarating oddity that found the singer and producer Peter Asher meeting New Wave on their own terms, this one peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100, the highest-charting version ever of this classic song.

7. 'Faithless Love' (1974)

This mournful ballad is the handiwork of J.D. Souther and was first recorded and released by Ronstadt on "Heart Like a Wheel." Her version really taps into the pathos at the heart of Souther's lyrics as she sings of "raindrops falling on a broken rose down in some valley where nobody goes."

She's joined by Souther on the bridge, his harmonies doing much to underscore the ache in her delivery as she sings "I guess I'm standing in the hall of broken dreams." It's a brilliant arrangement, building from an understated banjo introduction to that richly orchestrated bridge without overindulging in the sweetening. The result is as restrained as Ronstadt's vocals.

6. 'When Will I Be Loved' (1974)

When fellow Arizonan Stevie Nicks led a stage full of powerful women in saluting Ronstadt at her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this is the song they chose to bring that all-star tribute to a fitting close. And they did so for obvious reasons.

Written by Phil Everly, the Everly Brothers' original recording peaked at No. 8 in 1960. And like all her greatest covers, Ronstadt's version doesn't sound a thing like the original.

The Everlys' record doesn't start with guitars sliding into a chord and just letting it ring at the top of each line. Nor does it have that instrumental break that adds so much to Ronstadt's version, which hit No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 and topped the country charts.

5. 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore' (1974)

The most subdued of Ronstadt's Buddy Holly covers (this one written by Paul Anka) takes its cue from the despair in Anka's lyrics, not the skip in Holly's step on the original recording. It moves at a much slower clip to dramatic effect.

After setting the tone with a finger-picking pattern on guitar and Ronstadt's wistful reading of the lyrics, it builds into a more fleshed-out arrangement with tasteful strings and Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel guitar. Relegated to the B-side of the more commercial-sounding "When Will I Be Loved," it peaked at No. 47 on the Hot 100, hitting No. 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

4. 'Blue Bayou' (1977)

Widely considered her signature song, this melancholy ballad was co-written by Roy Orbison, who had a minor U.S. hit with his original recording in the early '60s. Ronstadt's version is a good deal moodier than Orbison's. Those syndrum accents haven't aged well, but the rest of the recording does a brilliant job of underscoring Ronstadt's melancholy vocal.

The opening verse is just her and a sleepwalking bass with a hint of percussion, the arrangement taking on more layers, from marimba and steel guitar to some really nice Don Henley backing vocals, as it goes. Ronstadt's vocals are flawless, from the understated pining of those early verses to the unadulterated show of force that kicks in when she promises, "I'm goin' back some day," and that high note on the last "bayou."

3. 'You're No Good' (1974)

Ronstadt's initial reaction to Peter Asher's guitar-driven production on her first chart-topping single, as revealed in the Grammy-winning documentary, "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice"? "Oh, I don't like it. It sounds like the Beatles."

For the record, this sounds nothing like the Beatles. But it also doesn't sound remotely like the horn-fueled R&B of Dee Dee Warwick's original recording or Betty Everett's first hit version, both from 1963.

That's not to say it isn't soulful. Ronstadt's vocals and the backing vocals are extremely soulful. They're just married to a brooding rock arrangement, an intriguing combination that made "You're No Good" her biggest mainstream hit since 1967's "Different Drum" hit No. 13 eight years earlier.

2. 'Different Drum' (1967)

This was the first we'd heard of Linda Ronstadt, a baroque-pop ballad written by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees. He was hoping his group would record it, but the show's producers turned him down, although they allowed him to rush through a version as part of a comedy bit on the show.

Although the track is credited to the Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt, she's the only member of the group that actually appears on the recording, which features future Eagle Bernie Leadon, session ace Jim Gordon and jazz bassist Jimmy Bond.

The Stone Poneys had planned to record an acoustic version of the song, but producer Nick Venet had other plans: the perfect chamber-pop arrangement — complete with a harpsichord solo! — topped by Ronstadt vowing "All I'm sayin' is I'm not ready for any person, place or thing tryin' to pull the reins in on me" with total conviction. This one peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1. 'Long, Long Time' (1970)

Another baroque-pop ballad, this one has more gravitas than "Different Drum." It opens with dramatic strings, pulling back to reveal an acoustic guitar and Ronstadt exercising pure restraint as she sets the tone with a vulnerable reading of "Love will abide, take things in stride" before letting the full power of her voice be felt on "Sounds like good advice but there's no one at my side."

The strings return for an instrumental break coming out of the chorus and stay to underscore her vocal on much of what follows as she effortlessly taps into the desperation of the situation on that final chorus hook: "'Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine. And I think I'm gonna love you for a long long time."

If that line doesn't make you feel, congratulations. You have clearly never known a broken heart. Released in 1970, it peaked at No. 25 on Billboard's Hot 100, earning Ronstadt her first Grammy nomination in the bargain.