American singer-songwriter-musician-activist Joan Chandos Baez was born on January 9, 1941. Her modern folk tunes frequently address political and social issues. Baez has released over 30 studio albums and has been performing for almost 60 years. She not only sings in at least six other languages, but she is also bilingual (she can speak Spanish and English).
Joan Baez Net Worth
Folk singer, songwriter, and musician Joan Baez of the United States has a $5 million fortune. Among her 25 studio albums are the classics “Joan Baez” (1960), “Diamonds & Rust” (1975), and “Whistle Down the Wind” (2018), all of which are well-known for their songs’ focus on social and civil justice issues.
Famous tunes by Joan include “Diamonds & Rust,” “Joe Hill,” and “Sweet Sir Galahad.” She recorded numerous Bob Dylan songs, including “Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and “Farewell, Angelina,” which helped spread his fame in the early ’60s.
Both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the California Hall of Fame have honored Baez in recent years. She is a published author, with works including “Daybreak – An Intimate Journal” (1968) and “And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir” (1987), as well as a renowned visual artist whose work has been featured in the shows “Mischief Makers” (2017) and “Mischief Makers 2” (2021).
Nominations and Awards
As well as being honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, Baez has been nominated for nine Grammys over the course of her career.
These include: Best Folk Recording (“Joan Baez In Concert” and “There But For Fortune”); Best Folk Performance (“Any Day Now”); Best Album Notes (“David’s Album”); Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female (“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”); Best Contemporary Folk Recording (“Asimbonanga”); Best The Kennedy Center Honor and a fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences were both announced for Joan in the year 2020.
In addition, she was nominated for the World Female Singer NME Award twice (1967 and 1971). With the launch of the Amnesty International Joan Baez Award for Outstanding, Inspirational Service in the Global Fight for Human Rights in March 2011, Amnesty International recognized Baez during its 50th Anniversary Annual General Meeting.
After Joan, the prize went to “an artist – music, film, sculpture, paint, or other medium – who has similarly helped advanced human rights.” For her advocacy, Baez was honored with the Spirit of Americana/Free Speech award at the 2008 Americana Music Honors & Awards and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Legal Community Against Violence in 2009.
Private Matters
Joan dated fellow BU student Michael New in the late ’50s, and the two were romantically involved in the process that would later lead to the writing of her 1979 song “Michael.” Baez and Bob Dylan began dating in 1961 and were together until 1965. They went on tour together, and Baez frequently had him join her onstage to duet.
All three of her Dylan-themed songs (“To Bobby,” “Diamonds & Rust,” and “Winds of the Old Days”) are dedicated to him. “I was just trying to deal with the madness which had become my career and unfortunately she got swept along and I felt very bad about it,” Bob said of their relationship. I regret that we had to discontinue our friendship.
In 1967, Baez and her mother were jailed together with scores of other women for blocking the entrance to the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California, in support of males who refused being inducted into the military. While incarcerated, Joan and her mother met David Harris. Baez was released from prison and immediately moved into Harris’ draft-resistance commune.
Five months after they initially met, on March 26, 1968, the couple tied the knot. Joan gave birth to their son Gabriel on December 2nd, 1969, just a few months after David was jailed in July for resisting induction into the military. After Harris served 15 months in jail, the couple separated and eventually divorced in 1973.
As he became older, Gabriel decided to pursue drumming, and he has since toured with Joan. Baez dated Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the early 1980s. Joan sang at a tribute for Steve Jobs at Stanford University in 2011 after Jobs passed away from pancreatic illness. She also thanked him in her biography, “And a Voice to Sing With.”
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