Simple Dreams is one of the most successful albums of Linda Ronstadt's career, spending five consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in late 1977. It also knocked Elvis Presley out of No. 1 on Billboard's Country Albums chart.

Simple Dreams was Ronstadt's fifth consecutive million-selling Platinum album and sold over 3½ million copies in less than a year in the United States alone – a record for a female artist. It elevated Ronstadt to mega-superstar status and the highest paid female singer in the world.

Originally, the front cover would have had Linda dressed in a provocative mini-slip seated in front of multiple mirrors; instead, she put on a robe, and the photograph was made artificially grainy. An outtake photo from the original photo sessions was belatedly included on the sleeve for her Greatest Hits, Volume 2 album in 1980.

This album has never been out of print.