Joan Baez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joan Baez
Baez in 2016
Background information
Birth name	Joan Chandos Baez
Born	(1941-01-09) January 9, 1941 (age 84) Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Genres	Folk folk rock Americana country folk gospel Latin
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter musician activist
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Years active	1958–present
Labels	Vanguard RCA Victor A&M Portrait/CBS Gold Castle Virgin Guardian Koch Razor & Tie
Associated acts	Bob Dylan Mimi Fariña Odetta Pete Seeger

Joan Chandos Baez (pronounced BYZE, born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, and activist. She is famous for her folk music that often includes songs about protest and social justice. Joan Baez has performed for over 60 years and has released more than 30 albums.

She is known as a folk singer, but her music also includes folk rock, pop, and country music. She started her music career in 1960 and quickly became successful. Her first three albums, Joan Baez, Joan Baez, Vol. 2, and Joan Baez in Concert, all sold enough to become "gold records."

Joan Baez often sings songs written by other artists. She has recorded many traditional songs and songs by famous musicians like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Stevie Wonder. She helped make Bob Dylan's early songs popular in the 1960s.

Some of her most famous songs are "Diamonds & Rust" and her versions of "There but for Fortune" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". She also sang "We Shall Overcome", which became an important song for civil rights. Joan Baez performed at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. She has always cared deeply about nonviolence, civil rights, and human rights. In 2017, she was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early Life and Family

Joan Baez was born in Staten Island, New York City, on January 9, 1941. Her father, Albert Baez, was a scientist who helped invent the X-ray microscope. Her mother, Joan Bridge, was from Scotland.

The Baez family became Quakers when Joan was young. This faith teaches about pacifism (being against violence) and caring for others. Joan has always followed these ideas. When she was growing up, she faced unfair treatment because of her Mexican background. This made her want to work for social justice even more. She refused to perform in places that separated people by race.

Because of her father's work, her family moved many times. They lived in different parts of the U.S. and in countries like England, France, and Iraq. Joan Baez became involved in social causes early on. She believes that working for social justice is the most important part of her life.

She spent much of her youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1958. While in high school, she refused to leave her classroom during an air raid drill. This was her first act of civil disobedience. Today, Joan Baez lives in Woodside, California. She enjoys spending time in a tree house in her backyard.

Music Career Beginnings

Joan Baez once said she was "born gifted" because of her amazing singing voice. A friend of her father gave her a ukulele. She learned a few chords and started playing rhythm and blues music. When she was 13, her aunt took her to a concert by folk musician Pete Seeger. Joan was deeply moved by his music and soon began singing his songs.

In 1957, she bought her first Gibson acoustic guitar.

College Music Scene

In 1958, Joan's family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. This area was a growing center for folk music. Joan began performing in clubs in Boston and Cambridge. She also briefly attended Boston University. Her first concert was at the Club 47 in Cambridge. She was paid ten dollars. Soon, she was performing twice a week.

A few months later, Joan and two friends recorded an album in a friend's basement. It was called Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square. Joan later met Bob Gibson and Odetta, who were famous folk and gospel singers. Joan says Odetta was a big influence on her. Gibson invited Joan to sing with him at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. Their performance earned her much praise. This led to her signing with Vanguard Records the next year. People called her the "barefoot Madonna" because of her clear voice and natural beauty.

First Albums and 1960s Success

Baez playing at the March on Washington in August 1963

Her professional career truly began at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. Her first album for Vanguard, Joan Baez (1960), was a collection of traditional folk songs. It sold well. The album was recorded in just four days. It even included a song in Spanish, "El Preso Numero Nueve".

Baez at the Frankfurt Easter March 1966

Joan had her first big New York concert in 1961. A newspaper critic praised her "superb soprano voice." Her second album, Joan Baez, Vol. 2 (1961), also sold very well. Her live albums, Joan Baez in Concert (1962) and Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 (1963), were special because they featured new songs. Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 was the first time she sang a Bob Dylan song.

In the early 1960s, Joan Baez became a leader in American folk music. She introduced audiences to the then-unknown Bob Dylan. Many other artists looked up to her. In 1962, she appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, which was a big honor for a musician.

Baez in 1966

While she was mainly an album artist, some of her songs became hits. Her 1965 song "There but for Fortune" was a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom. On her album Farewell, Angelina (1965), she started adding other instruments to her recordings. This album included several Dylan songs.

Baez in 1966 at Amsterdam airport

In 1968, Joan went to Nashville, Tennessee, to record two albums. One, Any Day Now (1968), was all Dylan songs. The other, David's Album (1969), was for her husband, David Harris. He was a protestor against the Vietnam War.

In August 1969, Joan performed at the Woodstock Festival. This made her even more famous around the world. She also started writing many of her own songs. "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "A Song For David" appeared on her 1970 album (I Live) One Day at a Time.

Joan Baez's unique singing style and her activism greatly influenced American music. She was one of the first musicians to use her fame to speak out for social causes. She sang and marched for human rights and peace.

1970s Music and Beyond

Baez playing in Hamburg, 1973

After many years with Vanguard Records, Joan Baez moved to A&M Records in 1972. Her album Blessed Are... (1971) was a big success. It included her hit song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

In 1971, Joan Baez wrote "The Story of Bangladesh." This song was about the difficult events in Bangladesh at that time. Her album Where Are You Now, My Son? (1973) included a long song about her visit to Hanoi, North Vietnam. She was there during the "Christmas Bombings" in 1972.

Her album Gracias a la Vida (1974) was very popular in the U.S. and Latin America. It included songs in Spanish. Diamonds & Rust (1975) became her best-selling album.

After releasing more albums, Joan Baez moved to CBS Records in 1977.

1980s and 1990s Highlights

In 1980, Joan Baez received special degrees from universities for her activism and music. In 1983, she sang Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" at the Grammy Awards.

Bob Dylan, Baez, and Carlos Santana, performing in 1984

She also performed at the 1985 Live Aid concert, which raised money for people in Africa. She toured for Amnesty International to support human rights.

In 1987, her second autobiography, And a Voice to Sing With, became a bestseller. That same year, she visited the Middle East to sing songs of peace for Israelis and Palestinians.

In 1989, Joan Baez performed in Czechoslovakia. She met Václav Havel, who later became the president. During her concert, her microphone was turned off when she greeted a human rights group. But Joan kept singing without the microphone for the audience. Havel said she was a great inspiration for their country's peaceful revolution.

In 1993, Joan Baez visited Bosnia and Herzegovina to bring attention to the suffering there. She was the first major artist to perform in Sarajevo during the war. In October 1993, she also became the first major artist to perform a concert on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.

2000s and Recent Years

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2005 at Golden Gate Park

In the 2000s, Joan Baez continued to perform and release music. Her album Dark Chords on a Big Guitar (2003) featured songs by younger artists. In 2007, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Joan Baez concert in Dresden, Germany, July 2008

Her album Day After Tomorrow (2008) was her first album to appear on the music charts in almost 30 years. In 2009, a documentary about her life, Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound, was shown on PBS.

In 2017, she released a new protest song called "Nasty Man." On April 7, 2017, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2018, she released the album Whistle Down the Wind. She then went on her "Fare Thee Well Tour."

In 2021, Joan Baez received a Kennedy Center Honor for her contributions to American culture.

Social and Political Involvement

Baez in 2003

Joan Baez has always used her voice to fight for what she believes is right.

Civil Rights

In 1956, Joan Baez heard Martin Luther King Jr. speak about nonviolence and civil rights. They later became friends. Baez took part in many Civil Rights Movement demonstrations. In 1965, she helped start the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence to teach peaceful protest.

Her singing of "We Shall Overcome" at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom made her a symbol of the civil rights movement. She sang it at many rallies and protests. She also joined the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches for voting rights.

Vietnam War Protests

Joan Baez strongly disagreed with the Vietnam War. In 1964, she publicly said she would not pay sixty percent of her taxes. She encouraged young men to refuse to join the army. She was arrested twice in 1967 for blocking the entrance to an army center. She spent over a month in jail.

She often joined anti-war marches and concerts. In 1967, she gave a free concert in Washington, D.C., that attracted 30,000 people. During Christmas 1972, Baez visited North Vietnam to help deliver mail to American prisoners of war. She was caught in the U.S. military's "Christmas bombing" of Hanoi.

Other Activism

Joan Baez has also supported prison and death penalty reform. She has sung at protests against executions. She also supports the Innocence Project, which helps people who have been wrongly convicted.

She has been a strong supporter of gay and lesbian rights. In 1978, she performed at concerts to fight against a law that would have banned openly gay people from teaching in California schools.

In 2009, Baez recorded a special version of "We Shall Overcome" with Persian lyrics to support peaceful protests in Iran. She has also worked for environmental causes. In 1999, she honored environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill. In 2006, she joined Julia Butterfly Hill in a "tree sit" to protest the destruction of a community farm in Los Angeles.

In 2008, Joan Baez supported Barack Obama for president. She said he reminded her of Martin Luther King Jr. In 2011, she performed at an Occupy Wall Street protest. She has also spoken out for the Catalan independence movement.

Awards and Honors

In 2003, Joan Baez received the John Steinbeck Award for her civil rights work. She was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Grammys. In 2011, Amnesty International created the Joan Baez Award for Outstanding Inspirational Service in the Global Fight for Human Rights. She was the first person to receive this award.

In 2015, Amnesty International gave her and Ai Wei Wei the Ambassador of Conscience award. In 2021, she was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors. In 2023, Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Relationships

Bob Dylan

Baez with Bob Dylan at the civil rights March on Washington, 1963

Joan Baez first met Bob Dylan in 1961. She was already a popular folk singer. She was impressed by his songs. By 1963, Joan invited Dylan to sing with her on stage at the Newport Folk Festival. They sang together many times after that. Joan helped make Dylan's early songs famous.

Their friendship changed over time. Joan later said it was a difficult time for her. She toured with Dylan again in 1975–76. They also performed together at a peace concert in 1982. Joan Baez has written several songs about Dylan, including "To Bobby" and "Diamonds & Rust".

David Harris

In 1967, Joan Baez was arrested for protesting the Vietnam War. While in jail, she met David Harris, who was also an anti-war activist. They became close friends. Joan moved into his community that supported refusing to join the army.

Joan and David married in New York City on March 26, 1968. They lived in a home called Struggle Mountain. A short time later, David was sent to prison for refusing to join the army. Joan was pregnant during this time. She performed at the Woodstock Festival while pregnant. Their son, Gabriel, was born on December 2, 1969. David was released from prison after 15 months. They separated three months later and divorced in 1973. They remained friends and shared custody of Gabriel. Gabriel is now a drummer and sometimes tours with his mother.

Steve Jobs

Joan Baez dated Apple Computer cofounder Steve Jobs in the early 1980s. They remained friends even after their relationship ended. Joan spoke fondly of Jobs after his death in 2011. She said he had a "sweet side" and "changed the world."

Discography

Filmography

Images for kids

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  Baez in 2016

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  Baez playing at the March on Washington in August 1963

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  Baez at the Frankfurt Easter March 1966

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  Baez in 1966

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  Baez in 1966 at Amsterdam airport

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  Baez playing in Hamburg, 1973

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  Bob Dylan, Baez, and Carlos Santana, performing in 1984

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  Baez in 2003

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  Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2005 at Golden Gate Park

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  Joan Baez concert in Dresden, Germany, July 2008

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  Baez with Bob Dylan at the civil rights March on Washington, 1963

See also

In Spanish: Joan Báez para niños

• List of peace activists