Joan Armatrading facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joan Armatrading CBE
Armatrading performing in Germany, 2007
Background information
Birth name	Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading
Born	(1950-12-09) 9 December 1950 (age 74) Basseterre, Saint Christopher and Nevis, British Leeward Islands
Origin	Birmingham, England
Genres	Rock pop folk rock blues
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals guitar keyboards bass guitar
Years active	1972–present
Labels	Curb A&M RCA Universal EMI Savoy Jazz BMG

Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading CBE (born December 9, 1950) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. She became famous with her albums Joan Armatrading (1976) and Show Some Emotion (1977). Joan still performs live and records new music today.

She has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and two BRIT Awards. In 1996, she won an Ivor Novello Award for her amazing song collection.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading was born in 1950 in Basseterre, which was then a British colony. She was the third of six children. When she was three, her parents moved to Birmingham, England. Joan stayed with her grandmother in Antigua for a few years.

In 1958, at age seven, she joined her family in Birmingham. Her father used to play in a band, but he didn't let his children touch his guitar. Around age 14, Joan started writing songs. She would put her own poems to music on a piano her mother bought. Later, her mother bought her a guitar from a pawn shop. Joan taught herself to play it.

Joan left school at 15 to help her family. She even lost her first job as a typist because she played her guitar during breaks!

Music Career Highlights

Starting Out in the 1970s

Armatrading in concert in Dublin, early 1980s

Joan Armatrading first performed at Birmingham University when she was about 16. She mostly knew her own songs. She then played her songs around her local area with a school friend. She also played bass and rhythm guitar in local clubs.

In 1968, Joan joined a musical called Hair. There, she met lyricist Pam Nestor in 1970. They worked together on Joan's first album, Whatever's for Us, released in 1972. Pam wrote most of the lyrics, while Joan wrote all the music and sang.

After some time, Joan signed with A&M Records in 1975. She released the album Back to the Night. In 1976, her album Joan Armatrading became very popular. It reached the Top 20 charts and included her hit song "Love and Affection". This album mixed acoustic sounds with jazz influences. She continued this style with her next albums, Show Some Emotion (1977) and To the Limit (1978). These albums featured songs like "Willow" and "Down to Zero".

Joan also wrote and performed "The Flight of the Wild Geese" for the 1978 war film The Wild Geese. By the end of the 1970s, Joan Armatrading was the first Black British female singer-songwriter to become famous worldwide.

Success in the 1980s and 1990s

In 1980, Joan changed her musical style. She released Me Myself I, which had a harder rock and pop sound. This album became her highest-charting album in both the UK and the US. The song "Me Myself I" also became a Top 40 hit in the UK.

Her albums Walk Under Ladders (1981) and The Key (1983) also did very well. The Key included another hit song, "Drop the Pilot". To celebrate her success, a "best of" album called Track Record was released in 1983.

Joan performed at big concerts, including one at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in 1985. She then started producing her own albums, like Sleight of Hand (1986), The Shouting Stage (1988), and Hearts and Flowers (1990). These albums were popular in the UK.

In 1991, a new collection called The Very Best of Joan Armatrading brought her back into the Top 10 charts. After almost 20 years, Joan left A&M Records and signed with RCA. She released What's Inside in 1995. In 1998, she released Lullabies with a Difference, an album of lullabies to support a charity for children with cerebral palsy.

2000s and Beyond

In 2003, Joan released Lovers Speak. In 2004, she released a live album called Live: All the Way from America.

Her 2007 album, Into the Blues, became number one on the US Billboard Blues Chart. This made her the first UK female artist to achieve this. Into the Blues was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the Blues category.

In 2010, she released This Charming Life. She went on an international tour to promote it. A live album from her concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London was released. In 2012, she released the album Starlight.

Joan has always supported new musicians. For her 2012 Starlight tour, she invited 56 new singer-songwriters to open for her. She also hosted a radio series on BBC Radio 2 to showcase these artists.

Between 2014 and 2015, Joan went on her "Me Myself I Tour." This was her first tour where she performed completely solo on stage. A CD/DVD of this tour was released in 2016.

In 2016, Joan wrote music for an all-female play of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. She released an album called The Tempest Songs. In 2018, she released Not Too Far Away.

In May 2021, Joan announced her new album Consequences, which was released in June of that year. In 2022, she released a live album, Live at Asylum Chapel, and a book of her song lyrics. These celebrated 50 years of her performing career.

In 2022, Joan composed her first classical piece, Symphony No. 1. It was performed for the first time in London in November 2023. In October 2024, she announced a new album, How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean, which was released in November 2024.

Other Appearances

Joan Armatrading has toured a lot and appeared at major concerts. These include "The Picnic at Blackbushe" in 1978 with Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. She also appeared in the film The Secret Policeman's Third Ball in 1987. She has been on many TV shows, like The Old Grey Whistle Test.

She hosted two radio series on BBC Radio 4 called Joan Armatrading's Favourite Guitarists. In these shows, she talked to other guitarists about their music. She has also been a guest on popular TV shows like Later... with Jools Holland and The Graham Norton Show.

In 2019, a documentary called Me Myself I aired on BBC Four. In it, Joan shared her life story as a songwriter and performer. She also appeared as herself in a 1983 edition of The Beano comic book.

Musical Style

Joan Armatrading has a deep, rich singing voice. Her music combines many styles, including rock, folk, jazz, blues, soul, and reggae.

Her songs are known for being very personal and emotional. However, Joan says her songs are not about her own life. She explains that they are about love, its joys and pains, and what she observes other people experiencing. She often uses the word "you" in her lyrics instead of saying "he" or "she." This makes her songs relatable to many different people.

Guitars

Joan Armatrading plays both six-string and twelve-string acoustic and electric guitars. She has used Ovation acoustic guitars since 1973. She likes them because they are powerful and have a clear, percussive sound. She also plays Fender Stratocaster and Gibson electric guitars. For her recent tours, she has used Ovation, Stratocasters, and custom-made Tom Anderson guitars.

Personal Life and Achievements

Joan Armatrading prefers to keep her personal life private. She believes that her home life is special because it's just for her and the people she chooses to share it with.

Besides her music, Joan is also very educated. In 2001, after five years of studying, she earned a degree in history from the Open University. She is now a trustee of the university. She has also been a trustee and ambassador for The Prince's Trust, a charity that helps young people.

Joan lives in Surrey, England. She has her own recording studio, Bumpkin Studios, at her home. She has recorded most of her albums there. Her younger brother, Tony Armatrading, was an actor who passed away in 2021.

In 2023, Joan was a guest at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla.

Collaborations

Joan Armatrading has worked with other artists. In 1986, she sang on the song "Don't Lose Your Head" from the Queen album A Kind of Magic.

In 1997, she appeared on the charity single "Perfect Day". Her song "In These Times" was included on the 2008 compilation album Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace.

Awards and Honours

Armatrading performing in Dublin, Ireland, in the early 1980s

Joan Armatrading has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and two Brit Awards for best female vocalist. She won an Ivor Novello Award in 1996 for her outstanding songs.

She has received many honorary degrees from universities, including Liverpool John Moores University (2000) and the University of Birmingham (2002). In 2001, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). In 2020, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her contributions to music, charity, and equal rights.

In 2011, she received a BASCA Gold Badge Award for her impact on music. In 2012, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Acoustic Festival of Britain. In 2016, she received another Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. This award recognized her influence on many singer-songwriters.

In 2022, Joan Armatrading became an Honorary Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge. The college praised her for being "pioneering, inspiring, supporting and sharing."

Discography

See also

In Spanish: Joan Armatrading para niños