Welcome to our 7th woman of the week! We can't believe we came so far! Thank you so much for all the support! Enjoy our article on Joan Baez, a singer-songwriter!
Major Accomplishments:
- Released several gold rated gold albums throughout her career
- Avid supporter of the Civil Rights and Antiwar Movements
Joan Baez was a singer and political activist born in 1941. She developed a passion for music early in her life as she learned the ukulele, guitar and sang in local coffee shops. Even though she didn’t get formal vocal training as a teenager, it didn’t seem to faze her as several of her albums received gold status throughout her career.
Her debut album, Joan Baez was released in 1960, contained thirteen folk songs and peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200 chart. Baez continued to release several critically acclaimed albums such as Diamonds & Rust and Any Day Now throughout her successful music career. Apart from music however, Joan Baez was heavily involved in advocacy. She became friends with Martin Luther King Jr. and attended the March on Washington in 1963. She sang at many civil rights marches and protests as well as encouraged others to do so also. In addition, she was an avid supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, and performed at benefit concerts to defeat the Briggs Initiative which seeked to ban gay teachers in California public schools. She also participated in the antiwar movement, and strongly disapproved of the Vietnam War. She refused to pay taxes that would go to fund the war, and was jailed because of this. Baez’s autobiography Daybreak was dedicated to the men who went to jail for resisting the draft.
Joan Baez was a major influence in politics, as she used her music to express her thoughts and feelings about social justice and war. She also founded the Institute for the Study of Non Violence in California to “The mission of the Nonviolence Institute is to teach, by word and example, the principles and practices of nonviolence, and to foster a community that addresses potentially violent situations with nonviolent solutions.” She was awarded with both the Thomas Merton Award and the Ambassador of Conscience Award for her activism. She had a public relationship with Bob Dylan, and played a huge part in making him famous. She wrote songs with him, and performed with him often. Baez was also a big influence on Taylor Swift, a beloved singer-songwriter. Baez performed Swift’s hit song Style with her during the 1989 World Tour.
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