She’s a little bit of blues and a little bit of rock, and she’s going to give Hilton coliseum “something to talk about” this Friday at 8 p.m.

After nearly three years of anticipation, admirers of Bonnie Raitt will soon get their eyes filled right here in Ames when she rocks down the house with her brilliant, bluesy voice.

Raitt has been on tour previously on the east coast. Chris Larson, an ISU senior in political science attended Raitt’s tour in New York. “She’s so entertaining!” he said. “I loved her style. She’s a fantastic performer. It was money well spent for a night of fun and excellent vocals.”

Bonnie Raitt finally hit the top of the charts in 1989 with her 10th album, Nick of Time. This album launched a new phase in her career and opened up the music business doors that she had been knocking on for years.

One month following the 1990 Grammy awards, Nick Of Time went to the number one position on the Billboard album chart, exactly 52 weeks after its release and almost 19 years after her debut album.

“I’ll never forget this as long as I live,” she commented during her acceptance speech at the Grammy ceremony. “It means so much for the kind of music that we do. It means that those of us who do rhythm and blues are going to get a chance again.”

Yes, indeed, and Bonnie Raitt has just the ear-enticing voice to shake up a crowd. She took that chance with Luck Of The Draw and won her biggest award yet. Two years following the astounding footsteps of its predecessor, Luck Of The Draw earned a trio of key awards at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo; Best Pop Vocal Performance; Female for Something To Talk About; and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal for Good Man, Good Woman, a duet by Raitt and Delbert McClinton.

The success of Nick Of Time and Luck Of The Draw has been widely viewed as a vindication of Bonnie’s commitment to showcasing unsung songwriters, blues and R&B music, without regard to fads or contemporary tastes.

Her opening act is Charles Brown and Ruth Brown, who she looked up to when growing up. Charles Brown is a deeply soulful live performer with a light lounge blues feeling. Ruth Brown is a Tony award winner, Grammy award winner for jazz and has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for her amazing vocal ability and stage techniques. This combo alone will make for a great night, not to mention that Bonnie Raitt will grace the stage after these pros.

The Raitt tradition is a mix of an evocative voice, an eloquent slide on the old guitar, deft phrasing and undeniable talent. This is evidence that Raitt’s boundless talent and spirit is once again giving all she’s got to her audience and herself.

Tickets are $25 and $38 and are available at the Iowa State Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets in person or charge by phone at 233-1888.