Judy Collins facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Judy Collins
Collins at the Cambridge Folk Festival, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Judith Marjorie Collins
Born	(1939-05-01) May 1, 1939 (age 86) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Origin	Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Genres	Folk Americana country rock and roll pop
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter musician
Instruments	Vocals piano guitar
Years active	1959–present
Labels	Elektra Geffen MCA Mesa Bluemoon Rhino Atlantic Wildflower Cleopatra

Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her career has lasted for over 60 years! She has been nominated for an Academy Award as a documentary director and has won a Grammy Award for her music.

Judy Collins is known for singing many different kinds of music. These include folk music, country, show tunes, pop music, and rock and roll. She is also known for her clear voice and for working to make the world a better place. She has released 36 studio albums, nine live albums, and many other recordings.

Her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, came out in 1961. It featured traditional folk songs. Her first song to appear on the music charts was "Hard Lovin' Loser" in 1966. But it was the song "Both Sides, Now" in 1967 that made her famous around the world. This song was written by Joni Mitchell. It reached number 8 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. Judy Collins won her first Grammy Award for this song. She also had success with songs like "Someday Soon", "Chelsea Morning", "Amazing Grace", "Turn! Turn! Turn!", and "Cook with Honey".

Her biggest hit was "Send in the Clowns" in 1975, written by Stephen Sondheim. This song reached number 19 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. It stayed on the chart for many weeks. The album it came from, Judith, became her best-selling album. It sold over 1,000,000 copies!

In 2017, Judy Collins' version of "Amazing Grace" was chosen to be kept in the National Recording Registry. This is a special collection at the Library of Congress for important recordings. That same year, she was nominated for another Grammy Award for her album Silver Skies Blue with Ari Hest. In 2019, at 80 years old, she had her first number 1 album on a US Billboard chart with Winter Stories. This album was a duet with Norwegian singer Jonas Fjeld. In 2022, she released Spellbound, her first album with all new songs written by her. It also got a Grammy nomination.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Judy Collins was born in Seattle, Washington, on May 1, 1939. She was the oldest of five children. Her family lived in Seattle for her first ten years. Her father was a singer, pianist, and radio show host. He was blind. In 1949, her family moved to Denver, Colorado, for his job. Her grandfather was from Ireland.

When Judy was eleven, she got polio. She had to stay in the hospital by herself for two months.

Judy Collins started learning classical piano at a young age. Her teacher was Antonia Brico. At 13, Judy performed Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos in public. Her teacher didn't like that Judy was becoming interested in folk music. This made it hard for Judy to stop her piano lessons. Later, after Judy became famous, she invited her old teacher to a concert. Her teacher looked at Judy's hands and said she "really could have gone places" with classical piano. Judy later found out her teacher had played jazz and ragtime piano when she was younger.

Judy met many musicians through her father. But it was the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger that made her love folk music. She also loved the words in folk songs. Three years after playing piano, she started playing guitar. She first performed folk music in clubs in Colorado. Her music became popular at the University of Connecticut.

A Career Spanning Decades

Starting Out in the 1960s

Collins on the TV show Hootenanny in 1963

Judy Collins moved to Greenwich Village, New York City. This area was famous for folk music. She played in clubs there until she signed with Elektra Records. She stayed with this record label for 35 years. In 1961, when she was 22, she released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow.

At first, Judy sang traditional folk songs. She also sang songs written by others. These included protest songs by artists like Tom Paxton and Bob Dylan. She sang her own versions of famous songs. These included Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn". She also helped new musicians become known. For example, she recorded songs by Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell before they were famous.

Judy Collins in 1965

Her first few albums were simple folk songs with guitar. But in 1966, with her album In My Life, she started trying new things. She included songs from the Beatles, Leonard Cohen, and others. This album used orchestration (adding instruments like violins). This was a big change for a folk artist. It set the path for her music in the next ten years.

With her 1967 album Wildflowers, Judy started writing her own songs. The first one was "Since You Asked". This album also had her big hit, "Both Sides, Now". This song won her a Grammy award. It reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968.

Her 1968 album Who Knows Where the Time Goes had a soft country sound. It included the song "Someday Soon". It also featured the song "My Father", written by Judy. Stephen Stills played guitar on this album. He was a musician she was dating at the time. He wrote the famous song "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" about her.

Collins performing on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968

Success in the 1970s

By the 1970s, Judy Collins was known as a great singer. She was also known for writing her own songs. She sang many different types of songs. These included the Christian hymn "Amazing Grace" and the Broadway song "Send in the Clowns". Both of these became top 20 hits. She also sang "A Song for David" by Joan Baez.

In 1971, Judy released a live album called Living. A collection of her best songs, Colors of the Day: The Best of Judy Collins, came out in 1972. Her 1973 album True Stories and Other Dreams included her original songs. For her 1975 album Judith, she worked with producer Arif Mardin. This album had a very polished sound. Judith had her biggest hit single, "Send in the Clowns". This album became her best-selling record.

Judy Collins was also an activist. Her 1976 album Bread and Roses had political songs. The title song was about a 1912 strike by garment workers. The album also had pop songs like Elton John's "Come Down in Time". After this album, Judy had treatment for her vocal cords. Her 1977 album So Early in the Spring...The First 15 Years sold well.

Collins in Amsterdam, 1971

Judy Collins appeared on The Muppet Show in 1978. She sang several songs. She also appeared on Sesame Street many times. In 1979, she released Hard Times for Lovers, a pop album.

Changes in the 1980s and 1990s

Her albums Running for My Life (1980) and Time of Our Lives (1982) were pop and soft rock albums. But music tastes changed, and her album sales went down. In 1984, Home Again explored new music styles. It included a duet with country singer T.G. Sheppard. After 23 years, Judy Collins left Elektra Records. She also sang for the animated TV movie The Wind in the Willows in 1987.

Judy Collins at a book signing, 1995

In 1985, she recorded the album Amazing Grace in England. It had new versions of her well-known songs. In 1987, she released her first book, Trust Your Heart. She also released two albums in 1989: a live album and a collaboration with clarinet player Richard Stoltzman.

In 1990, Judy Collins released Fires of Eden. The song "Fires of Eden" became a hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. She performed it on TV shows. Cher later recorded this song. Judy also released two children's albums that year. In 1993, she sang "Amazing Grace" and "Chelsea Morning" at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration. The Clintons named their daughter, Chelsea, after Judy's song.

For her next album, Judy sang songs by Bob Dylan. The album, Judy Collins Sings Dylan: Just Like a Woman, was released in 1993. It was popular and showed fans she was still singing well. In 1994, she released her first Christmas album. She also wrote a novel called Shameless in 1995. It was about the music business. She released an album with the same name as the soundtrack.

In 1998, Judy published her third book, Singing Lessons. In 1999, she released Classic Broadway, an album of old show tunes. That same year, she started her own record label, Wildflower Records.

2000s and Beyond

Collins performing at the Cambridge Folk Festival, 2008

Judy Collins continued to release many albums on her Wildflower label. These included live albums and new music like Portrait of an American Girl (2005) and Paradise (2010). In 2007, she released an album of Beatles songs. In 2008, other artists sang her songs for a tribute album called Born to the Breed.

In 2011, another book by Judy, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes, came out. It focused on her music career. In 2015, she released Strangers Again, which had duets with artists like Willie Nelson and Jackson Browne. She worked with singer-songwriter Ari Hest again in 2016 for the album Silver Skies Blue. This album was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Judy Collins in 2016

In 2017, Judy Collins released A Love Letter to Stephen Sondheim. That same year, she and her friend Stephen Stills released an album together called Everybody Knows. In 2019, she released Winter Stories with Norwegian singer Jonas Fjeld. In 2022, she released Spellbound, her first album with all original songs.

Activism and Helping Others

Like many folk singers of her time, Judy Collins cared about social issues. She wrote a song called Che about the revolutionary Che Guevara. Judy supported the Youth International Party and was friends with its leaders. In 1969, she spoke in court to support the Chicago Seven. During her testimony, she started singing Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".

In the late 1990s, she worked with UNICEF. She also worked to stop the use of landmines. Later, she wrote songs about the environment and about young people called DREAMers.

Personal Life

Judy Collins was married twice. She married Peter Taylor in 1958. They had one son, Clark C. Taylor, born that same year. They divorced in 1965. In 1996, she married industrial designer Louis Nelson. They had been together since 1978. They lived in New York City. Louis Nelson passed away in 2024.

In 1962, Judy was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She spent six months recovering in a hospital. The song "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" by Stephen Stills was written about her.

Judy Collins is a member of the Episcopal Church. In 2000, she canceled a concert at the Church's meeting. She did this to protest the Church's views on gay rights at the time.

Awards and Recognition

Academy Awards

• In 2003, her documentary Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman was chosen by the Library of Congress to be saved in the National Film Registry. This means it was seen as very important.

Grammy Awards

• Stephen Sondheim won the 1976 Grammy Award for Song of the Year because of how popular Judy Collins' version of "Send in the Clowns" was.

Other Awards and Honors

• In 2005, the Americana Music Association gave Judy Collins an award for her activism and music.
• She was added to the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2006.
• She received an honorary degree from Pratt Institute in 2009.
• In 2009, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
• Her song "Amazing Grace" was chosen for the National Recording Registry in 2017.
• She received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 2019.
• In 2023, she received the International Lifetime Achievement Award at the UK Americana Awards.

Discography

Albums on the Charts

Singles on the Charts

Film and TV Appearances

Certifications

These are the years the albums and singles were released.

See also

In Spanish: Judy Collins para niños

• List of peace activists