Janis Ian facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Janis Ian
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Ian performing in concert, 1981
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Janis Eddy Fink |
| Born | April 7, 1951 Farmingdale, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Labels | |
Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. She became very popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Her most famous songs are "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" from 1966/67 and "At Seventeen" from 1975. "At Seventeen" even reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in September 1975.
Janis Ian started her music career as a teenager in the mid-1960s. She has continued to record music into the 21st century. She has won two Grammy Awards. The first was in 1975 for "At Seventeen." The second was in 2013 for her autobiography, Society's Child, which won for Best Spoken Word Album. She has been nominated for a Grammy ten times in eight different categories.
Besides music, Ian is also a writer. She writes columns and science fiction stories.
Contents
Janis Ian's Early Life and Music Beginnings
Janis Eddy Fink was born in Farmingdale, New Jersey. She grew up on a farm. She went to high school in East Orange and also attended the New York City High School of Music & Art. Her grandparents came from different countries like Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Poland. They moved to the New York-New Jersey area around 1918. Her parents, Victor and Pearl, were a music teacher and a college fundraiser. They were Jewish but didn't follow a religion. They also ran summer camps in upstate New York.
As a child, Janis loved folk musicians like Joan Baez and Odetta. She started piano lessons when she was just two years old because she really wanted to. By the time she was a teenager, she could play the organ, harmonica, French horn, and guitar. When she was 12, she wrote her first song, "Hair of Spun Gold." This song was later published in a folk magazine called Broadside. It was also recorded for her very first album. In 1964, she officially changed her name to Janis Ian. She chose Ian, which was her brother Eric's middle name.
Janis Ian's Music Career Highlights
Breaking Through with "Society's Child"
When Janis Ian was 14, she wrote and recorded her first big song, "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)". This song was about a romance between people of different races. The girl's mother didn't approve, and her friends and teachers also looked down on it. The song was released several times. It became a national hit in 1967 after Leonard Bernstein featured it on a TV show called Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution.
Some radio stations didn't want to play the song because its topic was considered controversial. Janis Ian wrote in her autobiography that she received serious threats and negative reactions because of the song. She even mentioned that a radio station that played it in Atlanta was burned down. In July 1967, "Society's Child" reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song sold 600,000 copies, and her first album sold 350,000 copies.
"Society's Child" was later honored in 2001. It was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. This hall celebrates recordings that are considered timeless and important in music history.
The Success of "At Seventeen"
After "Society's Child," some people thought Janis Ian was a "one-hit wonder" (someone who only has one hit song). But then, in 1975, she released her most successful US song, "At Seventeen". This song is a thoughtful look at the challenges of being a teenager. It talks about how tough kids can be, the idea of being popular, and the worries of growing up. The song became a huge hit. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also hit number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.
In 1976, "At Seventeen" won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female. Janis Ian performed "At Seventeen" on the very first episode of Saturday Night Live in October 1975. Her album, Between the Lines, also became a big success. It reached number one on Billboard′s album chart. The album sold over one million copies in the US, earning a platinum award.
International Hits and Her Own Record Label
Janis Ian had other international hits. Her song "Fly Too High" (1979) was in the movie Foxes. It became a number one hit in many countries, including South Africa, Belgium, Australia, and the Netherlands. She was also very popular in Japan. She had two Top 10 songs there: "Love Is Blind" in 1976 and "You Are Love" in 1980. Her 1976 album Aftertones also topped the album charts in Japan.
In 1992, Janis Ian started her own record company called Rude Girl Records, Inc. This company helps produce her new music. It also helps to improve and re-release her older songs and albums.
Many other artists have recorded Janis Ian's songs. For example, Roberta Flack had a hit in 1973 with Ian's song "Jesse." "At Seventeen" is her most covered song, with over 50 different versions by artists like Celine Dion. Janis Ian continues to perform around the world. She announced that her 2022 North American tour would be her "last full tour."
Janis Ian as a Writer and Actress
Janis Ian also writes science fiction. She has loved reading science fiction for a long time. She started getting involved in the science fiction community in 2001. Her short stories have been published in different collections. She also helped edit a book called Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian in 2003. She sometimes attends science fiction conventions.
Ian used to write columns for The Advocate, an LGBT news magazine. She also wrote for Performing Songwriter magazine. In 2008, she released her autobiography, Society's Child. This book was very well-received. A two-CD set called The Autobiography Collection was released with it, featuring many of her popular songs.
In the early 1980s, Janis Ian took acting lessons. She wanted to feel more comfortable performing on stage. She even appeared in the TV show Getting On in 2015. She played a patient who wouldn't stop singing.
Janis Ian's Personal Life and Charity Work
Janis Ian's mother, Pearl, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1975. Because of this, Janis and her brother encouraged their mother to go to college, which had been her dream. Pearl went to Goddard College and earned a master's degree. After her mother passed away in 1997, Janis decided to sell some of her belongings to raise money. This money was used to create a scholarship at Goddard College for older students. This scholarship program became the Pearl Foundation. It is a charity that helps fund scholarships at different schools. By 2020, the foundation had given over $1,250,000 in scholarship money.
Janis Ian married filmmaker Tino Sargo in 1978, but they divorced in 1983. She later met Patricia Snyder in 1989. Snyder and Ian got married in Toronto in 2003. Janis Ian has a stepdaughter and two grandchildren through her marriage to Patricia Snyder.
Janis Ian's Music Recordings
Janis Ian has released many albums and singles throughout her career. Here are some of her studio albums:
- Janis Ian (1967)
- Between the Lines (1975) - This album reached number 1 in the US!
- Aftertones (1976) - This album reached number 1 in Japan!
- Breaking Silence (1992)
- The Light at the End of the Line (2022)
She has also released live albums and compilation albums, which are collections of her best songs. Some of her most famous singles include:
- "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" (1967)
- "At Seventeen" (1975)
- "Fly Too High" (1979)
- "You Are Love" (1980)
Images for kids
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Ian performing at the National Stadium Dublin, Ireland, on May 14, 1981
See also
In Spanish: Janis Ian para niños
