Joan Baez
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Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more than 30 albums. Baez is generally regarded as a
folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
, but her music has diversified since the counterculture era of the 1960s and encompasses genres such as
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
, pop,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
, and gospel music. She began her recording career in 1960 and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, ''
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...
'', '' Joan Baez, Vol. 2'' and '' Joan Baez in Concert'', all achieved
gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
status. Although a songwriter herself, Baez generally interprets others' work, having recorded many traditional songs and songs written by
the Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...
,
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
,
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...
,
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
, Woody Guthrie, Violeta Parra,
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
,
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
,
Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...
,
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
,
Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...
, and many others. She was one of the first major artists to record the songs of
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
in the early 1960s; Baez was already an internationally celebrated artist and did much to popularize his early songwriting efforts. Her tumultuous relationship with Dylan later became the subject of songs from both and generated much public speculation. On her later albums she has found success interpreting the work of more recent songwriters, including Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter, Steve Earle, Natalie Merchant, and Joe Henry. Baez's songs include " Diamonds & Rust" and covers of Phil Ochs's " There but for Fortune" and the Band's " The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". She is also known for " Farewell, Angelina", " Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word", " Forever Young", " Here's to You", " Joe Hill", " Sweet Sir Galahad" and " We Shall Overcome". Baez performed fourteen songs at the 1969
Woodstock Festival The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of
nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
,
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
,
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
, and the environment. Baez was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
on April 7, 2017.


Early and personal life

Baez was born in the
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...
borough of New York City on January 9, 1941. Her grandfather, Alberto Baez, left the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
to become a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
minister and moved to the U.S. when her father was two years old. Her father, Albert Baez (1912–2007), was born in
Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...
, Mexico, and grew up in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, where his father preached to – and advocated for – a Spanish-speaking congregation. Albert first considered becoming a minister but instead turned to the study of mathematics and
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
and received his PhD from Stanford University in 1950. Albert was later credited as a co-inventor of the X-ray microscope. Joan's cousin, John C. Baez, is a mathematical physicist. Her mother, Joan Chandos Baez (née Bridge), referred to as "Joan Senior" or "Big Joan", was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the second daughter of an English Anglican priest who claimed to be descended from the Dukes of Chandos. Born on April 11, 1913, she died on April 20, 2013 aged 100. Baez was the second of three sisters, all of whom were political activists and musicians. The eldest was Pauline Thalia Baez Bryan (1938–2016), also known as Pauline Marden, and the youngest was Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña (1945–2001), who was better known as Mimi Fariña. The Baez family converted to Quakerism during Joan's early childhood, and she has continued to identify with the tradition, particularly in her commitment to
pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...
and social issues. While growing up, Baez was subjected to racial slurs and discrimination because of her Mexican heritage. Consequently, she became involved in social causes early in her career. She declined to play in any white student venues that were segregated, which meant that when she toured the Southern states, she would play only at black colleges. Owing to her father's work with
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
, their family moved many times, living in towns across the U.S. as well as in England, France, Switzerland, Spain, Canada, and the Middle East, including
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
. Joan Baez became involved with a variety of social causes early in her career, including
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
and
nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
. Social justice, she stated in the PBS series '' American Masters'', is the true core of her life, "looming larger than music". Baez spent much of her formative youth living in the
San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
, where she graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1958. Here, Baez dated Michael New, a fellow student described as "
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
English" whom she met at her college in the late 1950s, and occasionally introduced as her husband. Baez committed her first act of civil disobedience by refusing to leave her Palo Alto High School classroom in
Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...
for an air raid drill.

Baez remained close to her younger sister Mimi up until Mimi's death in 2001 and mentioned in the 2009 ''American Masters'' documentary that she had grown closer to her older sister Pauline in later years. Currently, Baez is a resident of Woodside, California, where she lived with her mother until the latter's death in 2013. She has said that her house has a backyard tree house in which she spends time meditating, writing, and "being close to nature". Since stepping down from the stage in 2019, she has devoted herself to portraiture. Owing to false assumptions that have been promoted about her, Baez stated in 2019 that she was not a vegetarian and had not been part of the
feminist movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...
, remarking that her stardom shielded her from the everyday struggles of other women. She is the subject of the 2023 documentary '' Joan Baez: I Am a Noise'', in which she reflected on among other things her personal struggles, her political activism, and her personal and professional relationship with Bob Dylan.''How Joan Baez found peace'' by Ilana Kaplan ''People'' magazine October 16, 2023, page 61 She also related that Mimi and she had struggled with depression and after years of therapy came to believe that they had been abused by their father. In her 2024 poetry collection ''When You See My Mother Ask Her to Dance,'' Joan Baez said that she has been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder.


Music career

The opening line of Baez's memoir ''And a Voice to Sing With'' is "I was born gifted" (referring to her singing voice, which she explained was given to her and for which she can take no credit). A friend of Joan's father gave her a ukulele. She learned four chords, which enabled her to play
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
, the music she was listening to at the time. Her parents, however, were fearful that the music would lead her into a life of
drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...
.Democracy Now, May 4, 2009
(transcript). Interview with Joan Baez, by Amy Goodman at Pete Seeger's 90th birthday celebration.
When Baez was 13, her aunt took her to a concert by
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
ian
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
, and Baez found herself strongly moved by his music. She soon began practicing the songs of his repertoire and performing them publicly. One of her earliest public performances was at a retreat in Saratoga, California, for a youth group from Temple Beth Jacob, a
Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...
, Jewish congregation. A few years later, in 1957, Baez bought her first Gibson acoustic guitar.


College music scene in Massachusetts

After graduating from high school in 1958, Baez and her family moved from the San Francisco area to
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, after her father accepted a faculty position at MIT. At that time, it was in the center of the up-and-coming folk-music scene and she began performing near home in Boston and nearby
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
. She also performed in clubs and attended
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
for about six weeks before she gave her first concert at the Club 47 in Cambridge. When designing the poster for the performance, Baez considered changing her performing name to either Rachel Sandperl, the surname of her longtime mentor Ira Sandperl, or Maria from the song " They Call the Wind Maria". She later opted against doing so, fearing that people would accuse her of changing her last name because it was Spanish. The audience consisted of her parents, sister Mimi, her boyfriend, and a few friends, resulting in eight patrons. Baez was paid ten dollars before she was later asked back and began performing twice a week for $25 per show. A few months later, Baez and two other folk enthusiasts made plans to record an album in the cellar of a friend's house. The trio sang solos and duets and a family friend designed the album cover, which was released on Veritas Records that same year as '' Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square''. Baez later met
Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (November 9, 1935October 2, 2020), nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot", was an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. Known for his fiercely competi ...
and Odetta, who were at the time two of the most prominent vocalists singing folk and gospel music. Baez cites Odetta as a primary influence along with Marian Anderson and Pete Seeger. Gibson invited Baez to perform with him at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival, where they sang two duets, "Virgin Mary Had One Son" and "We Are Crossing Jordan River". The performance generated substantial praise for the "barefoot Madonna" with the otherworldly voice, and it was this appearance that led to Baez signing with Vanguard Records the following year, although
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
tried to sign her first. Baez later claimed that she felt she would be given more artistic license at a more "low key" label. Baez's nickname at the time, "Madonna", has been attributed to her clear voice, long hair, and natural beauty, and to her role as "Earth Mother".


First albums and 1960s breakthrough

Her true professional career began at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. Following that appearance, she recorded her first album for Vanguard, ''
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...
'' (1960), produced by Fred Hellerman of The Weavers, who produced many albums by folk artists. The collection of traditional folk ballads, blues, and
lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...
s sung to her own guitar accompaniment sold moderately well. It featured many popular Child Ballads of the day and was recorded in only four days in the ballroom of New York City's Manhattan Towers Hotel. The album also included " El Preso Numero Nueve", a song sung entirely in Spanish, which she would re-record in 1974 for inclusion on her Spanish-language album '' Gracias a la Vida''. She made her New York concert debut on November 5, 1960, at the 92nd Street Y and on November 11, 1961, Baez played her first major New York concert at a sold-out performance at
Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
. Robert Shelton, folk critic of the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', praised the concert, saying, "That superb soprano voice, as lustrous and rich as old gold, flowed purely all evening with a wondrous ease. Her singing (unwound) like a spool of satin." Years later when Baez thought back to that concert, she laughed, saying: "I remember in 1961 my manager sending me this newspaper (clipping) in the mail (which) read, 'Joan Baez Town Hall Concert, SRO.' I thought SRO meant 'sold right out.' I was so innocent of it all." Her second release, '' Joan Baez, Vol. 2'' (1961), went
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
, as did '' Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1'' (1962) and '' Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2'' (1963). Like its immediate predecessor, ''Joan Baez, Vol. 2'' contained strictly traditional material. Her two albums of live material, ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1'' and its second counterpart were unique in that unlike most live albums, they contained only new songs rather than established favorites. It was ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2'' that featured Baez's first-ever Dylan cover. From the early to the mid-1960s, Baez emerged at the forefront of the American roots revival, where she introduced her audiences to the then-unknown
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
and was emulated by artists such as
Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...
,
Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...
,
Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...
, and Bonnie Raitt. On November 23, 1962, Baez appeared on the cover of ''Time Magazine''—a rare honor then for a musician. Although primarily an album artist, several of Baez's singles have charted, the first being her 1965 cover of Phil Ochs' "There but for Fortune", which became a mid-level chart hit in the U.S. and Canada, and a top-ten single in the United Kingdom. Baez added other instruments to her recordings on '' Farewell, Angelina'' (1965), which features several Dylan songs interspersed with more traditional fare. Deciding to experiment with different styles, Baez turned to Peter Schickele, a classical music composer, who provided classical orchestration for her next three albums: '' Noël'' (1966), '' Joan'' (1967), and '' Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time'' (1968). ''Noël'' was a Christmas album of traditional material, while ''Baptism'' was akin to a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
, featuring Baez reading and singing poems written by celebrated poets such as
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
,
Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...
, and Walt Whitman. ''Joan'' featured interpretations of work by contemporary composers, including
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
and
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
, Tim Hardin,
Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...
, and
Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...
. In 1968, Baez traveled to
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, where a marathon recording session resulted in two albums. The first, '' Any Day Now'' (1968), consists exclusively of Dylan covers. The other, the country-music-infused '' David's Album'' (1969), was recorded for husband David Harris, a prominent anti-
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
protester eventually imprisoned for draft resistance. Harris, a country music fan, turned Baez toward more complex country-rock influences beginning with ''David's Album''. Later in 1968, Baez published her first memoir, ''Daybreak'' (by Dial Press). In August 1969, her appearance at Woodstock in upstate New York raised her international musical and political profile, particularly after the successful release of the documentary film '' Woodstock'' (1970). Beginning in the late 1960s, Baez began writing many of her own songs, beginning with " Sweet Sir Galahad" and "A Song For David", both songs appearing on her 1970 '' (I Live) One Day at a Time'' album; "Sweet Sir Galahad" was written about her sister Mimi's second marriage, while "A Song For David" was a tribute to Harris. ''One Day at a Time'', like ''David's Album'', featured a decidedly country sound. Baez's distinctive vocal style and political activism had a significant impact on American popular music. She was one of the first musicians to use her popularity as a vehicle for social protest, singing and marching for human rights and peace.
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
, Odetta, and decades-long friend
Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...
were her early social justice advocate influences. Baez came to be considered the "most accomplished interpretive folksinger/songwriter of the 1960s".Joan Baez
. United States History. History.com.
Her appeal extended far beyond the folk music audience. Of her fourteen Vanguard albums, thirteen made the top 100 of Billboard's mainstream pop chart, eleven made the top forty, eight made the top twenty, and four made the top ten.


1970s and the end of Vanguard years

After eleven years with Vanguard, Baez decided in 1971 to cut ties with the label that had released her albums since 1960. She delivered Vanguard one last success with the gold-selling album '' Blessed Are...'' (1971), which included a top-ten hit in " The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", her cover of the Band's signature song. With '' Come from the Shadows'' (1972), Baez switched to
A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...
, where she remained for four years and six albums. Joan Baez wrote "The Story of Bangladesh" in 1971. This song was based on the Pakistani army crackdown on unarmed sleeping Bengali students at Dhaka University on March 25, 1971, which ignited the prolonged nine-month
Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...
. The song was later entitled "The Song of Bangladesh" and released in a 1972 album from Chandos Music. During this period in late 1971, she reunited with composer Peter Schickele to record two tracks, "Rejoice in the Sun" and "Silent Running" for the
science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...
film '' Silent Running''. The two songs were issued as a single on Decca (32890). In addition to this, another LP was released on Decca (DL 7-9188) and was later reissued by Varèse Sarabande on black (STV-81072) and green (VC-81072) vinyl. In 1998, a limited release on CD by the "Valley Forge Record Groupe" was released. Baez's first album for A&M, '' Come from the Shadows'', was recorded in Nashville, and included a number of more personal compositions, including "Love Song to a Stranger" and "Myths", as well as work by Mimi Farina, John Lennon, and Anna Marly. '' Where Are You Now, My Son?'' (1973) featured a 23-minute title song which took up all of the B-side of the album. Half spoken word poem and half tape-recorded sounds, the song documented Baez's visit to
Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
,
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
, in December 1972 during which she and her traveling companions survived the 11-day-long Christmas Bombings campaign over Hanoi and Haiphong. '' Gracias a la Vida'' (1974) (the title song written and first performed by Chilean folk singer Violeta Parra) followed and was a success in both the U.S. and Latin America. It included the song " Cucurrucucú paloma". Flirting with mainstream pop music as well as writing her own songs for '' Diamonds & Rust'' (1975), the album became the highest selling of Baez's career and included a second top-ten single in the form of the title track. After '' Gulf Winds'' (1976), an album of entirely self-composed songs and '' From Every Stage'' (1976), a live album that had Baez performing songs "from every stage" of her career, Baez again parted ways with a record label when she moved to CBS Records for '' Blowin' Away'' (1977) and '' Honest Lullaby'' (1979).


1980s and 1990s

In 1980, Baez was given honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees by Antioch University and
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
for her political activism and the "universality of her music". In 1983, she appeared on the
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
, performing Dylan's anthemic " Blowin' in the Wind", a song she first performed twenty years earlier. Baez also played a significant role in the 1985 Live Aid concert for African famine relief, opening the U.S. segment of the show in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Pennsylvania. She has toured on behalf of many other causes, including
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
's 1986 '' A Conspiracy of Hope'' tour and a guest spot on their subsequent ''
Human Rights Now! Human Rights Now! was a worldwide tour of twenty benefit concerts on behalf of Amnesty International that took place over six weeks in 1988. Held not to raise funds but to increase awareness of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on it ...
'' tour. Baez found herself without an American label for the release of '' Live Europe 83'' (1984), which was released in Europe and Canada but not released commercially in the U.S. She did not have an American release until the album '' Recently'' (1987) on Gold Castle Records. In 1987, Baez's second autobiography, called ''And a Voice to Sing With'', was published and became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. That same year, she traveled to the Middle East to visit with and sing songs of peace for Israel and the
Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
. In May 1989, Baez performed at a music festival in Communist Czechoslovakia called Bratislavská lýra. While there, she met future Czechoslovak president
Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...
, whom she let carry her guitar so as to prevent his arrest by government agents. During her performance, she greeted members of
Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech language, Czech and Slovak language, Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members ...
, a dissident human-rights group, which resulted in her microphone being shut off abruptly. Baez then proceeded to sing ''
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
'' for the nearly four thousand gathered. Havel cited her as a great inspiration and influence in that country's Velvet Revolution, the revolution in which the Soviet-dominated Communist government there was overthrown. Baez recorded two more albums with Gold Castle: '' Speaking of Dreams'', (1989) and '' Brothers in Arms'' (1991). She then landed a contract with a major label,
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
, recording '' Play Me Backwards'' (1992) for Virgin shortly before the company was purchased by EMI. She then switched to Guardian, with whom she produced a live album, '' Ring Them Bells'' (1995), and a studio album, '' Gone from Danger'' (1997). In 1993, at the invitation of Refugees International and sponsored by the Soros Foundation, she traveled to the war-torn
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
region of former-
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
in an effort to help bring more attention to the suffering there. She was the first major artist to perform in
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
since the outbreak of the Yugoslav civil war. In October 1993, Baez became the first major artist to perform in a professional concert presentation on
Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate, Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a Alcatraz Isla ...
(a former U.S. federal prison) in San Francisco, California, in a benefit for her sister Mimi's Bread and Roses organization. She later returned for another concert in 1996.


2000s

Beginning in 2001, Baez has had several successful long-term engagements as a lead character at San Francisco's Teatro ZinZanni. In August 2001, Vanguard began re-releasing Baez's first 13 albums, which she recorded for the label between 1960 and 1971. The reissues, being released through Vanguard's Original Master Series, feature digitally restored sound, unreleased bonus songs, new and original artwork, and new liner-note essays written by Arthur Levy. Likewise, her six A&M albums were reissued in 2003. In 2003, Baez was also a judge for the third annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. Baez's album, '' Dark Chords on a Big Guitar'' (2003), features songs by composers half her age, while a November 2004 performance at New York City's Bowery Ballroom was recorded for a live release, '' Bowery Songs'' (2005). On October 1, 2005, she performed at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, at San Francisco's
Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond District, San Francisco, Richmond and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset districts on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the Lis ...
. Then, on January 13, 2006, Baez performed at the funeral of Lou Rawls, where she led Jesse Jackson Sr., Wonder, and others in the singing of " Amazing Grace". On June 6, 2006, Baez joined
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
on stage at his San Francisco concert, where the two performed the rolling anthem " Pay Me My Money Down". In September 2006, Baez contributed a live, retooled version of her classic song "Sweet Sir Galahad" to a
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
's exclusive XM Artist Confidential album. In the new version, she changed the lyric "here's to the dawn of their days" to "here's to the dawn of ''her'' days", as a tribute to her late sister Mimi, about whom Baez wrote the song in 1969. On October 8, 2006, Baez appeared as a special surprise guest at the opening ceremony of the Forum 2000 international conference in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. Her performance was kept secret from former Czech Republic President Havel until the moment she appeared on stage. Havel was a great admirer of both Baez and her work. During Baez's next visit to Prague, in April 2007, the two met again when she performed in front of a sold-out house at Prague's Lucerna Hall, a building erected by Havel's grandfather. On December 2, 2006, she made a guest appearance at the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir's Christmas Concert at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California. Her participation included versions of " Let Us Break Bread Together" and "Amazing Grace". She also joined the choir in the finale of " O Holy Night". In February 2007, Proper Records reissued her 1995 live album ''Ring Them Bells'', which featured duets with artists ranging from Dar Williams and Mimi Fariña to the Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter. The reissue features a 16-page booklet and six unreleased live tracks from the original recording sessions. In addition, Baez recorded a duet of "Jim Crow" with John Mellencamp which appears on his album '' Freedom's Road'' (2007). Also in February 2007, she received the
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is a special Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achiev ...
. The day after receiving the honor, she appeared at the
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
ceremony and introduced a performance by the Dixie Chicks. September 2008 saw the release of the studio album '' Day After Tomorrow'', produced by Steve Earle and featuring three of his songs. The album was Baez's first charting record in nearly three decades. On June 29, 2008, Baez performed on the acoustic stage at the
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
playing out the final set to a packed audience. On July 6, 2008, she played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in
Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...
, Switzerland. During the concert's finale, she spontaneously danced on stage with a band of African percussionists. On August 2, 2009, Baez played at the 50th Newport Folk Festival, which also marked the 50th anniversary of her breakthrough performance at the first festival. On October 14, 2009, PBS aired an episode of its documentary series '' American Masters'', entitled ''Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound''. It was produced and directed by Mary Wharton. A DVD and CD of the soundtrack were released at the same time.


2010s and 2020s

On April 4, 2017, Baez released on her Facebook page her first new song in 27 years, "Nasty Man", a protest song against US President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, which became a viral hit. On April 7, 2017, she was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
. On March 2, 2018, she released a new studio album entitled '' Whistle Down the Wind'', which charted in many countries and was nominated for a Grammy, and undertook her "Fare Thee Well Tour" to support the album. On April 30, 2019, Baez told ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' that she had been approached to perform at the Woodstock 50 festival, but had turned the offer down for "it was too complicated to even get involved in" and her "instincts" were telling her "no". On July 28, 2019, following dates across Europe, Baez performed her final concert at Madrid's Teatro Real. In January 2021, it was announced that Baez would receive a 2020 Kennedy Center Honor in a ceremony that was postponed because of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. She was honored along with Debbie Allen, Garth Brooks, Midori, and Dick Van Dyke in May 2021.


Social and political involvement


Civil rights

In 1956, Baez first heard Martin Luther King Jr. speak about nonviolence, civil rights and
social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Sustained at a larger scale, it may lead to social transformation or societal transformat ...
in a speech that brought tears to her eyes. Several years later, the two became friends, with Baez participating in many of the Civil Rights Movement demonstrations that King helped organize. When she was a senior in high school, Baez met anti-war activist Ira Sandperl and through their interests in various philosophies and political causes they developed a friendship. In 1965 they founded together the Institute for the Study of Non-violence in Carmel Valley, California with Sandperl running the general operations and funding coming from Baez. The early years of Baez's career saw the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. become a prominent issue. Her performance of " We Shall Overcome", the civil rights anthem written by
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
and Guy Carawan, at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom permanently linked her to the song. Baez again sang "We Shall Overcome" in Sproul Plaza during the mid-1960s Free Speech Movement demonstrations at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
, and at many other rallies and protests. Her recording of the song " Birmingham Sunday" (1964), written by her brother-in-law, Richard Fariña, was used in the opening of '' 4 Little Girls'' (1997), Spike Lee's documentary film about the four young victims killed in the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. In 1965, Baez announced that she would be opening a school to teach nonviolent protest. She also participated in the 1965
Selma to Montgomery marches The Selma to Montgomery marches were three Demonstration (protest), protest marches, held in 1965, along the highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery. The marches were organized by Nonviolence, nonvi ...
for voting rights. In November 2017, as part of a release of documents from the National Archives that were supposed to relate to the
assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
of John F. Kennedy, a 1968
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
report alleged that Baez was involved in the 1960s in an intimate affair with King, an accusation described by history professor Clayborne Carson, the director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, as "part of a smear campaign" against King.


Vietnam War

Highly visible in civil-rights marches, Baez became more vocal about her disagreement with the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. In 1964, she publicly endorsed resisting taxes by withholding sixty percent of her 1963 income taxes. In 1964, she founded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence (along with her mentor Sandperl) and encouraged draft resistance at her concerts. The Institute for the Study of Nonviolence would later branch into the Resource Center for Nonviolence. In 1966, Baez's autobiography, ''Daybreak'', was released. It is the most detailed report of her life through 1966 and outlined her anti-war position, dedicating the book to men facing imprisonment for resisting the draft. Baez was arrested twice in 1967, having blocked the entrance of the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California, and spent over a month in jail. She was a frequent participant in anti-war marches and rallies, including: * Numerous protests in New York City organized by the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee, starting with the March 1966 Fifth Avenue Peace Parade; * A conversation with husband David Harris at
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
in 1968 discussing the resistance to the draft during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. * A free 1967 concert at the
Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...
in Washington, D.C., that had been opposed by the Daughters of the American Revolution which attracted a crowd of 30,000 to hear her anti-war message; * The 1969 Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam protests. There were many others, culminating in Phil Ochs's The War Is Over celebration in New York City in May 1975. During the Christmas season 1972, Baez joined a peace delegation traveling to North Vietnam, both to address human rights in the region, and to deliver Christmas mail to American prisoners of war. During her time there, she was caught in the U.S. military's " Christmas bombing" of Hanoi, North Vietnam, during which the city was bombed for eleven straight days. She was critical of Vietnam's government and organized the May 30, 1979, publication of a full-page advertisement (published in four major U.S. newspapers) in which the government was described as having created a nightmare. Her one-time anti-war ally
Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...
refused to join in Baez's criticism of the Vietnamese government, leading to what was publicly described as a feud between the two.


Prison and death penalty reform

In December 2005, Baez appeared and sang " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" at the California protest at the San Quentin State Prison against the execution of
Tookie Williams Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005) was an American gangster who co-founded and led the Crips gang in Los Angeles. He and Raymond Washington formed an alliance in 1971 that established the Crips as Los Angeles ...
. She had previously performed the same song at San Quentin at the 1992 vigil protesting against the execution of Robert Alton Harris, the first man to be executed in California after the death penalty was reinstated. She subsequently lent her prestige to the campaign opposing the execution of Troy Davis by the State of Georgia. In 2016, Baez advocated for the Innocence Project and Innocence Network. At each concert, Baez informs the audience about the organizations' efforts to exonerate the wrongfully convicted and reform the system to prevent such incidents.


LGBT rights

Baez has been prominent in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights. In 1978, she performed at several benefit concerts to defeat the Briggs Initiative, which proposed banning openly gay people from teaching in public schools in California. Later that same year, she participated in memorial marches for the assassinated San Francisco city supervisor, Harvey Milk, who was openly gay. In the 1990s, she appeared with her friend
Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...
at a benefit for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a gay lobbying organization, and performed at the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March. Her song "Altar Boy and the Thief" from '' Blowin' Away'' (1977) was written as a dedication to her gay fanbase.


Iran

On June 25, 2009, Baez created a special version of "We Shall Overcome", with a few lines of Persian lyrics in support of peaceful protests by Iranian people. She recorded it in her home and posted the video on her personal website and on YouTube. She dedicated the song " Joe Hill" to the people of Iran during her concert at Merrill Auditorium in
Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...
on July 31, 2009.


Environmental causes

On Earth Day 1999, Baez and Bonnie Raitt honored environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill with Raitt's ''Arthur M. Sohcot Award'' in person on her -high redwood treetop platform, where Hill had camped to protect ancient redwoods in the Headwaters Forest from logging.


War in Iraq

In early 2003, Baez performed at two rallies of hundreds of thousands of people in San Francisco protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In August 2003, she was invited by
Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...
and Steve Earle to join them in London, England, at the Concert For a Landmine-Free World. In the summer of 2004, Baez joined
Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...
's "Slacker uprising Tour" on American college campuses, encouraging young people to get out and vote for peace candidates in the upcoming presidential election. In August 2005, Baez appeared at an
anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...
protest in Crawford, Texas, which had been started by Cindy Sheehan.


Tree sit-in for urban farmers

On May 23, 2006, Baez once again joined Julia Butterfly Hill, this time in a "tree sit" in a giant tree on the site of the South Central Farm in a poor neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, California. Baez and Hill were hoisted into the tree, where they remained overnight. The women, in addition to many other activists and celebrities, were protesting the imminent eviction of the community farmers and demolition of the site, which is the largest urban farm in the state. Because many of the South Central Farmers are immigrants from Central America, Baez sang several songs from her 1974 Spanish-language album, ''Gracias a la Vida'', including the title track and "No Nos Moverán" (" We Shall Not Be Moved").


2008 presidential election

Throughout most of her career, Baez remained apprehensive about involving herself in party politics. However, on February 3, 2008, Baez wrote a letter to the editor at the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' endorsing
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. She noted: "Through all those years, I chose not to engage in party politics. ... At this time, however, changing that posture feels like the responsible thing to do. If anyone can navigate the contaminated waters of Washington, lift up the poor, and appeal to the rich to share their wealth, it is Sen. Barack Obama." Playing at the Glastonbury Festival in June, Baez said during the introduction of a song that one reason she liked Obama was because he reminded her of another old friend of hers, Martin Luther King Jr. Although a highly political figure throughout most of her career, Baez had never publicly endorsed a major political party candidate prior to Obama. However, after Obama was elected, she expressed that she would likely never do so again, saying in a 2013 interview in ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' that "In some ways I'm disappointed, but in some ways it was silly to expect more. If he had taken his brilliance, his eloquence, his toughness and not run for office he could have led a movement. Once he got in the Oval Office he couldn't do anything." She performed at the White House on February 10, 2010, as part of an evening celebrating the music associated with the civil rights movement, performing " We Shall Overcome".


Occupy Wall Street

On November 11, 2011, Baez played as part of a musical concert for the protestors at Occupy Wall Street. Her three-song set included " Joe Hill", a cover of the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
' "Salt of the Earth" and her own composition "Where's My Apple Pie?"


Catalan independence movement

Baez has been a strong defender of the Catalan independence movement. On July 21, 2019, she described jailed Catalan independence leaders as political prisoners. Five days later, she visited former
Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...
president Carme Forcadell in prison.


Awards

In 2003, Baez was presented with the John Steinbeck Award for her civil rights activism. She was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Grammys. To reward her decades of dedicated activism, Baez was honored with the Spirit of Americana/Free Speech award at the 2008 Americana Music Honors & Awards. On March 18, 2011, Baez was honored by
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
at its 50th Anniversary Annual General Meeting in San Francisco. The tribute to Baez was the inaugural event for the Amnesty International Joan Baez Award for Outstanding Inspirational Service in the Global Fight for Human Rights. Baez was presented with the first award in recognition of her human rights work with Amnesty International and beyond, and the inspiration she has given activists around the world. The award is to be presented to an artist – music, film, sculpture, paint or other medium – who has helped advance human rights. In 2015, Amnesty International jointly awarded Baez and Ai Wei Wei the Ambassador of Conscience award. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected her to fellowship in 2020, praising her contributions both to music and to activism. In May 2021, Baez was recognized as part of the 43rd
Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to Culture of the United States, American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in ...
. In 2023, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' ranked Baez at number 189 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. In February 2024, she received the Third Class of the Order of the White Double Cross by Zuzana Čaputová


Relationships


Bob Dylan

Baez first met Dylan in April 1961 at Gerde's Folk City in New York City's
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
. Baez had already released her debut album and her popularity as the emerging "Queen of Folk" was on the rise. Baez was initially unimpressed with the "urban
hillbilly ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural area, rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, ...
", but she liked one of Dylan's first compositions, " Song to Woody" and remarked that she would like to record it. By 1963, Baez had released three albums, two of which had been certified gold, and she invited Dylan on stage to perform alongside her at the Newport Folk Festival. The two performed the Dylan composition " With God on Our Side", a collaboration that set the stage for many more duets in the months and years to come. Typically, while on tour, Baez would invite Dylan to sing on stage partly by himself and partly with her, much to the chagrin of her fans. Before meeting Dylan, Baez's topical songs were few: " Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream", "We Shall Overcome", and an assortment of spirituals. Baez would later say that Dylan's songs seemed to update the topics of protest and justice. By the time of Dylan's 1965 tour of the UK, their relationship had slowly begun to deteriorate. The couple were captured in D. A. Pennebaker's documentary film '' Dont Look Back'' (1967). Baez later described it as an abrupt halt that broke her heart. In the 2023 documentary '' I Am a Noise'' Baez referred to the relationship as "totally demoralizing" which she later forgave him for but said that they are no longer in touch with each other. ''How Joan Baez found peace'' by Ilana Kaplan ''People'' magazine October 16, 2023, p. 61 Baez toured with Dylan as a performer on his Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975–76. She sang four songs with Dylan on the live album of the tour, '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue'', released in 2002. Baez appeared with Dylan in the one-hour TV special ''Hard Rain'', filmed at Fort Collins,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, in May 1976. Baez also starred as 'The Woman in White' in the film '' Renaldo and Clara'' (1978), directed by Bob Dylan and filmed during the Rolling Thunder Revue. They performed together at the Peace Sunday anti-nuke concert in 1982. Dylan and Baez toured together again in 1984 along with
Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...
. Baez discussed her relationship with Dylan in
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's documentary film '' No Direction Home'' (2005), and in the PBS '' American Masters'' biography of Baez, ''How Sweet the Sound'' (2009). Baez wrote and composed at least three songs that were specifically about Dylan. In "To Bobby", written in 1972, she urged Dylan to return to political activism, while in " Diamonds & Rust", the title track from her 1975 album, she revisited her feelings for him in warm, yet direct terms. " Winds of the Old Days", also on the ''Diamonds & Rust'' album, is a bittersweet reminiscence about her time with "Bobby". The references to Baez in Dylan's songs are far less clear. Baez herself has suggested that she was the subject of both " Visions of Johanna" and " Mama, You Been on My Mind", although the latter was more likely about his relationship with Suze Rotolo. Dylan's " To Ramona" is potentially also about Baez. In the liner notes of his 1985 compilation album '' Biograph'', Dylan stated that the song was "pretty literal. That was just somebody I knew"; and in her 1987 biography ''And A Voice To Sing With,'' Baez wrote about how Dylan would call her "Ramona". Baez implied when speaking about the connection to "Diamonds and Rust" that "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is, at least in part, a metaphor for Dylan's view of his relationship with her. As for " Like A Rolling Stone", "Visions of Johanna", " She Belongs to Me", and other songs alleged to have been written about Baez, neither Dylan nor biographers such as Clinton Heylin and Michael Gray have had anything definitive to say either way regarding the subject of these songs. Baez's relationship with Dylan was also referenced in the 2024 film '' A Complete Unknown''.


David Harris

In October 1967, Baez, her mother, and nearly 70 other women were arrested at the Oakland, California, Armed Forces Induction Center for blocking its doorways to prevent entrance by young inductees, and in support of young men who refused military induction. They were incarcerated in the Santa Rita Jail, and it was here that Baez met David Harris, who was kept on the men's side but who still managed to visit with Baez regularly. The two formed a close bond upon their release and Baez moved into his draft-resistance commune in the hills above
Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...
. The pair had known each other for three months when they decided to marry. After confirming the news to Associated Press, media outlets began dedicating ample press to the impending nuptials (at one point, ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine referred to the event as the "Wedding of the Century"). After finding a pacifist preacher and a church outfitted with peace signs and writing a blend of Episcopalian and Quaker wedding vows, Baez and Harris married in New York City on March 26, 1968. Her friend
Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...
sang at the ceremony. After the wedding, Baez and Harris moved into a home in Los Altos Hills, California on of land called Struggle Mountain, part of a commune, where they tended gardens. A short time later, Harris refused induction into the armed forces and was indicted. On July 16, 1969, Harris was taken by federal marshals to prison. Baez was visibly pregnant in public in the months that followed, especially at the Woodstock Festival, where she performed a handful of songs in the early morning. The documentary film ''Carry It On'' was produced during this period and was released in 1970. The film's behind-the-scenes looks at Harris's views and arrest and Baez on her subsequent performance tour was positively reviewed in ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Among the songs Baez wrote about this period of her life are "A Song for David", "Myths", "Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose)" and "Fifteen Months" (the amount of time Harris was imprisoned). Their son Gabriel was born on December 2, 1969. Harris was released from Texas prison after 15 months, but they separated three months after his release and the couple divorced amicably in 1973. They shared custody of Gabriel, who lived primarily with Baez. Explaining the split, Baez wrote in her autobiography: "I am made to live alone." Baez and Harris remained on friendly terms throughout the years; they reunited on-camera for the 2009 ''American Masters'' documentary for the USA's PBS. Their son Gabriel is a drummer and occasionally tours with his mother. He has a daughter Jasmine who also sang with Joan Baez at Kidztock in 2010.


Steve Jobs

Baez dated
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...
cofounder
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
during the early 1980s. A number of sources have stated that Jobs—then in his mid-twenties—had considered asking Baez to marry him, except that her age at the time (early 40s) made the possibility of their having children unlikely. Baez mentioned Jobs in the acknowledgments in her 1987 memoir ''And a Voice to Sing With'' and performed at the memorial for him in 2011. After Jobs's death, Baez spoke fondly about him, stating that even after the relationship had ended, the two remained friends, with Jobs having visited Baez a few months before he died. Baez remarked that "Steve had a very sweet side, even if he was as... erratic as he was famous for being. But he gets genius license for that, because he was somebody who changed the world."


In popular culture

* Cartoonist Al Capp, creator of the
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
'' Li'l Abner'', satirized Baez as "Joanie Phoanie" during the 1960s. Capp's satirized Joanie was an unabashed communist radical who sang songs of class warfare while hypocritically traveling in a limousine and charging outrageous performance fees to impoverished orphans. Capp had this character singing songs such as "A Tale of Bagels and Bacon" and "Molotov Cocktails for Two". Although Baez was upset by the parody in 1966, she admits to being more amused in recent years. "I wish I could have laughed at this at the time", she wrote in a caption under one of the strips, reprinted in her autobiography. "Mr. Capp confused me considerably. I'm sorry he's not alive to read this, it would make him chuckle." Capp stated at the time: "Joanie Phoanie is a repulsive, egomaniacal, un-American, non-taxpaying horror, I see no resemblance to Joan Baez whatsoever, but if Miss Baez wants to prove it, let her." * Baez's serious persona was parodied several times on the American variety show ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' in impersonations by Nora Dunn, notably in the 1986 mock game show ''Make Joan Baez Laugh''. * Baez is portrayed by Monica Barbaro in the 2024
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
biopic '' A Complete Unknown''. For her portrayal, Barbaro earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.


Discography

* '' Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square'' (1959) * ''
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...
'' (1960) * '' Joan Baez, Vol. 2'' (1961) * '' Joan Baez in Concert'' (1962) * '' Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2'' (1963) * '' Joan Baez/5'' (1964) * '' Farewell, Angelina'' (1965) * '' Noël'' (1966) * '' Joan'' (1967) * '' Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time'' (1968) * '' Any Day Now'' (1968) * '' David's Album'' (1969) * '' One Day at a Time'' (1970) * '' Sacco & Vanzetti'' (1971) * '' Carry It On'' (1971) * '' Blessed Are...'' (1971) * '' Come from the Shadows'' (1972) * '' Where Are You Now, My Son?'' (1973) * '' Gracias a la Vida'' (1974) * '' Diamonds & Rust'' (1975) * '' Gulf Winds'' (1976) * '' Blowin' Away'' (1977) * '' Honest Lullaby'' (1979) * '' Recently'' (1987) * '' Diamonds & Rust in the Bullring'' (1988) * '' Speaking of Dreams'' (1989) * '' Play Me Backwards'' (1992) * '' Gone from Danger'' (1997) * '' Dark Chords on a Big Guitar'' (2003) * '' Day After Tomorrow'' (2008) * '' Whistle Down the Wind'' (2018)


Filmography

* '' The March on Washington'' (1963) * ''The March'' (1964) * '' The Big T.N.T. Show'' (1966) * '' Dont Look Back'' (1967) * ''
Festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...
'' (1967) * '' Woodstock'' (1970) * '' Carry It On'' (1970) * ''Woody Guthrie All-Star Tribute Concert'' (1970) * '' Celebration at Big Sur'' (1971) * '' Dynamite Chicken'' (1971) * '' Earl Scruggs: The Bluegrass Legend – Family & Friends'' (1972) * ''Sing Sing Thanksgiving'' (1974) * ''The Making of'' Silent Running (1974) * ''A War is Over'' (1975) * ''Banjoman'' (1975) * '' Bob Dylan: Hard Rain'' (TV Special, 1976) * '' The Memory of Justice'' (1976) * '' Renaldo and Clara'' (1978) * ''There but for Fortune – Joan Baez in Central America'' (TV documentary, 1982) * ''Sag nein'' (1983) * ''In Our Hands'' (1984) * '' Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin (1984) * '' Live Aid'' (1985) * ''In Remembrance of Martin'' (1986) * '' We Shall Overcome'' (1989) * '' Woodstock: The Lost Performances'' (1990) * ''
Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...
: His Life and Work'' (1993) * '' Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg'' (1993) * '' Woodstock Diary'' (1994) * ''A Century of Women'' (1994) * '' The History of Rock 'n' Roll'' (1995) * '' Rock & Roll'' (1995) * '' Message to Love: Isle of Wight Festival 1970'' (1996) * ''Tree Sit: The Art of Resistance'' (2001) * ''Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of'' The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (2002) * '' Soundstage: Joan Baez, Gillian Welch and Nickel Creek'' (2004) * ''Fahrenheit 9/11: A Movement in Time'' (2004) * ''Words and Music in Honor of Fahrenheit 9/11'' (2005) * '' The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken'' (2005) * '' No Direction Home'' (2005) * '' Captain Mike Across America'' (2007) * '' Pete Seeger: The Power of Song'' (2007) * '' 65 Revisited'' (2007) * '' The Other Side of the Mirror'' (2007) * '' South Central Farm: Oasis in a Concrete Desert.'' (2008) * '' Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action'' (2008) * ''The Power of Their Song: The Untold Story of Latin America's New Song Movement'' (2008) * '' Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound'' (2009) * '' Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel'' (2009) * '' Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970'' (2009) * ''Welcome to Eden'' (2009) * ''In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement'' (2010) * '' Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune'' (2010) * ''Save the Farm'' (2011) * ''For the Love of the Music: The Club 47 Folk Revival'' (2012) * '' The March'' (2013) * ''Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis (2014) * ''The Stars Behind the Iron Curtain'' (2014) * '' Sharon Isbin: Troubadour'' (2014) * ''Snapshots from the Tour'' (2015) * '' Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour Live'' (2015) * ''Joan Baez: Rebel Icon'' (2015) * '' King in the Wilderness'' (2018) * ''
Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...
's After Dark: Speaking Out in America'' (2018) * ''Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind: The Carolina Chocolate Drops' Story'' (2019) * '' Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese'' (2019) * ''Woodstock'' (2019) * '' The Boys Who Said No!'' * '' Joan Baez: I Am a Noise'' (2023)


See also

* List of peace activists


Notes


References


Further reading

* Baez, Joan. 1968. ''Daybreak: An Intimate Journal''. New York, Dial Press. * Baez, Joan, 1987.
And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir
'. New York City, Summit Books. . * Baez, Joan. 1988. ''And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir''. Century Hutchinson, London, UK. . * Fuss, Charles J., 1996. ''Joan Baez: A Bio-Bibliography''. Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts Series. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press. * Garza, Hedda, 1999. ''Joan Baez'' (Hispanics of Achievement). Chelsea House Publications. * Hajdu, David, 2001. ''Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña And Richard Fariña''. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. . * Heller, Jeffrey, 1991. ''Joan Baez: Singer with a Cause''. People of Distinction Series. Children's Press. * Jäger, Markus, 2003. ''Joan Baez and the Issue of Vietnam: Art and Activism versus Conventionality''. ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany. * Jaeger, Markus, 2021. ''Popular Is Not Enough: The Political Voice of Joan Baez''. Revised and updated edition. ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany. * Romero, Maritza, 1998. ''Joan Baez: Folk Singer for Peace''. Great Hispanics of Our Time Series. Powerkids Books. * Rosteck, Jens, 2017. ''Joan Baez: Porträt einer Unbeugsamen''. Osburg Verlag, Hamburg, Germany. * Thomson, Elizabeth, 2020. ''Joan Baez: The Last Leaf'', Palazzo Editions, London, UK


External links

* *
"Joan Baez: The Folk Heroine Mellows With Age"
– 1984 article and interview, reprinted in 2007 by '' Crawdaddy!''
"Carry It On", 1970 documentary film of Joan Baez and David Harris
produced by the New Film Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Joan Baez in Palo Alto

PBS.org: 8 Things You Didn't Know About Joan Baez
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baez, Joan 1941 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century Quakers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American songwriters 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century Quakers A&M Records artists Activists from California Activists from New York (state) American acoustic guitarists American anti-poverty advocates American anti-racism activists American anti–death penalty activists American anti–Iraq War activists American anti–Vietnam War activists American civil rights activists American women civil rights activists American country singer-songwriters American environmentalists American folk guitarists American folk rock musicians American folk singers American musicians of Mexican descent American nonviolence advocates American pacifists American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent American Quakers American sopranos American street performers American tax resisters American women country singers American women environmentalists American women human rights activists American women singer-songwriters Articles containing video clips CBS Records artists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Guitarists from California Guitarists from New York (state) Hispanic and Latino American musicians Hispanic and Latino American women singers Kennedy Center honorees Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners LGBTQ rights activists from California Living people MNRK Music Group artists Musicians from Palo Alto, California Musicians from Staten Island Order of Arts and Letters of Spain recipients Palo Alto High School alumni People from Woodside, California American political music artists Proper Records artists Razor & Tie artists RCA Victor artists Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Spanish-language singers of the United States Vanguard Records artists Virgin Records artists Women in Latin music