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Joan Baez Biography

in full Joan Chandos Baez

(1941–)

Related Works

Albums
1960 Joan Baez
1961 Joan Baez 2
1962 Joan Baez In Concert

1963 Joan Baez In Concert Part 2
1964 Joan Baez 5
1965 Farewell Angelina
1966 Portrait
1966 Noel
1967 Joan
1968 Baptism
1968 Any Day Now: Songs Of Bob Dylan
1969 David's Album
1969 Joan Baez In Italy
1970 24 July 1970 All Arena Civica di Milano
1970 One Day At A Time
1971 Blessed Are
1971 Carry It On
1971 Sacco And Vanzetti
1972 Come From The Shadows
1973 Where Are You Now My Son
1974 Gracias A La Vida
1975 Diamonds And Rust
1975 Live In Japan
1976 From Every Stage
1976 Gulf Winds
1977 Blowing Away
1979 Honest Lullaby
1979 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
1979 Country Music Album
1981 European Tour
1983 Live Europe 83
1988 Recently
1989 Diamonds And Rust In The Bullring
1989 Speaking Of Dreams
1991 Brothers In Arms
1992 Play Me Backwards
1993 No Woman No Cry
1995 Ring Them Bells
1997 Gone From Danger
2003 Dark Chords on a Big Guitar
2005 Bowery Songs
Compilations
1970 The First Ten Years
1972 The Ballad Book
1974 The Contemporary Ballad Book
1975 The Love Song Album
1976 Hits Greatest And Others
1977 The Best Of Joan Baez
1980 Spotlight On Joan Baez
1983 Very Early Joan
1994 Rare, Live And Classic
1996 Diamonds

» More

Related People

Bob Dylan

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Related Sites

The official Joan Baez site

Singer, songwriter, social activist. Born on January 9, 1941, in Staten Island, New York. Joan Baez, a singer in the folk tradition, was a crucial part of the genre's rebirth in the 1960s. She got her first guitar in 1956. After her family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, two years later, Joan Baez delved into the city's burgeoning folk scene. Soon she became a regular performer at a local club.

The 1960s were a turbulent time in American history, and Joan Baez often used her music to express her social and political views. Her self-titled first album was released in 1960 and not long after its release she met the then-unknown singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.

In the early to mid-1960s, Joan Baez became an established folk artist as well as a voice for social change. She sang "We Shall Overcome" at the March on Washington in 1963 organized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition to supporting civil rights, Baez also participated in the antiwar movement, calling for an end to the conflict in Vietnam. Beginning in 1964, she would refuse to pay part of her taxes to protest U.S. military spending for a decade. Baez was also arrested twice in 1967 in Oakland, California, for blocking an armed forces induction center. Near the decade's end, her autobiography, Daybreak (1968), was released.

Baez continued to be active politically and musically in the 1970s. She helped establish the west coast branch of Amnesty International, a human rights organization, and released numerous albums, including the critically acclaimed Diamonds and Rust (1975). In addition to touring, she also performed at many benefits and fund-raisers for social and political causes around the world.

Her most recent studio album was 2003's Dark Chords on a Big Guitar. She followed up with a collection of live tracks in 2005 on Bowery Songs, which featured songs by Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie as well as some traditional folk songs.

Once married to David Harris, Joan Baez has a son named Gabriel from that union. She lives in California and continues to speak out for causes that are important to her.