Bonnie Raitt is just happy to be included at the Grammys this year.

“It’s nice to represent the oldsters!” she joked as she talked to PEOPLE’s Janine Rubenstein and Jeremy Parsons on the red carpet at the Grammys Sunday night.

Raitt, 73, is nominated for song of the year for “Just Like That,” on which she is credited as both singer and songwriter.

“I’m always really proud to be acknowledged,” she told PEOPLE of the nomination. “To be acknowledged for song of the year this time is pretty big – so, for one of my tunes? That’s a big thing for me, so I’m very proud.”

However, it’s a bittersweet night for the 10-time Grammy Award winner, even as she’s celebrating four more nominations. Raitt is part of the in-memoriam tribute that will honor some of the lives lost in the music industry in 2022, including Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, who died in November after a brief illness.

“There’s some sadness about being part of the in-memoriam tribute to some friends of ours that we lost,” she said of being included in the emotional performance, which will also honor Migos’ Takeoff and Loretta Lynn.

For Raitt, who released her debut album in 1970, just a few years after Fleetwood Mac’s debut, McVie’s death was a shock.

“It was a surprise and you know, we didn’t know she had been ill, so it’s really — so I’m just not gonna turn around and look at her picture when I’m singing,” Raitt told PEOPLE. “She was one of the greatest – one of the most soulful singers. She was just beloved around the world.”

Bonnie Raitt attends the 65th GRAMMY Awards on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
© Lester Cohen /Getty Images for The Recording Academy

After spending eight months of the year on tour in 2022, Raitt has, even more, to come in 2023. She’s hitting the road across the world, she said, performing in Australia, Ireland, the UK and Canada before making her way back to the U.S. in the fall.

Returning to the stage after the pandemic was an emotional experience for the blues singer.

“After that first show in April, the audience was crying, we were crying, we were just so exalted,” she said. “It was like the most fun New Year’s Eve party you could ever have night after night, for eight months.”

The 65th Grammy Awards air live at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, during which the show will also be available to stream on Paramount+.

About The Author

Julia Moore

Digital News Writer

Julia Moore has been working as a writer for PEOPLE since 2022. A recent graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she previously worked for several campus publications and her work has previously appeared in The Washington Post and Block Club Chicago.

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