On March 11th Joan will receive the Orden de las Artes y las Letras de España (Order of Arts and Letters from Spain) in recognition of "a trajectory governed by the artistic and personal commitment in favor of individual rights and civil and political liberties." The award is the most prestigious award given to foreign artists in Spain. It is bestowed under Royal Decree as proposed by the Minister of Culture, Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde. In recommending Joan for this honor, the Culture Ministry said that she "has been a benchmark that transcends the field of music for a generation of Spanish defenders of political freedom and peaceful coexistence."
Congratulations Excelentisima Señora Joan Baez!
Save the Date! Friday, April 23!
Teatro ZinZanni celebrates its 10th anniversary in San Francisco, and Joan will be returning to the spiegeltent for one night only to join in the party as a special gust!
On Sunday, April 25th, Joan will be one of a host of international artists honoring the great Mercedes Sosa in a tribute concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
On February 9th Joan joined the roster of performers for "In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement," a concert to celebrate Black History month.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted " the event held in the East Room of the White House. Other participants in the concert included Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and others. Morgan Freeman served as emcee, and the event featured songs from the Civil Rights Movement as well as readings. The President made opening remarks at this concert held in the East Room which was streamed live at http://www.whitehouse.gov.
The concert will be televised beginning on February 11th at 8:00pm EST on public broadcasting television stations nationwide. Check your local listings for dates and times in your area. Here's Joan's performance, but be sure to watch the entire program for some more wonderful moments by all the artists involved.
National Public Radio will also produce a one-hour concert special from this event for broadcast throughout the month of February, beginning February 12th. The special will also be available on http://www.npr.org/music
Some fan photos from the Summer and Fall tours of 2009 have been newly posted. Thanks to all of you who so generously submitted your photographs! And remember, if you have taken some good photos of Joan on her current tour, be sure to submit them for inclusion in the fan photo gallery!
Jim Stewart's tour diary from the late 2009 UK/European tour has just been posted. There's also many photos for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy!
On Sunday, February 14th, Joan joined Steve Earle, David & Tracy Grisman, Tuck & Patti, and of course, Wavy Gravy, in a special concert to benefit the Seva Foundation at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco.
Enjoy this lovely slideshow from the event.
Look for Joan's vocal appearance on Judy Colllins' new CD Paradise, scheduled to be released in April 2010. Joan duets with Judy on one track, Joan's own "Diamonds and Rust," a pairing first seen at the Newport Folk Festival last August.
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Congratulations go out to classical guitarist Sharon Isbin whose recording Journey To The New World garnered a Grammy Award in the Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) category. This album includes the "Joan Baez Suite: Opus 144," a piece by John Duarte comprised of songs from Joan's early career: "Once I Had A Sweetheart," "Rambler Gambler," "House of the Rising Sun," "The Lily Of The West," "The Unquiet Grave," "Silkie," "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," "Rake and Rambling Boy," "Wildwood Flower," and "The Trees They Do Grow High." The Sony Classical label CD also features Joan's vocals on "I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger" and "Go 'Way From My Window."
Congratulations Sharon (and Joan and Mark O'Connor!)
Be sure to read Joan's latest blog post on Joan's Corner about some elephant friends of hers and how you can help them.
The documentary's premiere television airing coincided with the DVD/CD released on October 13th, featuring bonus content and an audio soundtrack. The documentary features rare performance footage, home videos and candid interviews with artists such as David Crosby, Bob Dylan, David Harris, Steve Earle, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Roger McGuinn. The deluxe edition (DVD/CD combo) includes the complete documentary as well as bonus content featuring Joan's one-on-one conversations with Steve Earle, Vaclav Havel, Dar Williams, Bill Fegan and Bishop Ernest Palmer, as well as interview outtakes on early family life, musical roots, early career choices and more, including a never-before-seen 1958 performance from the legendary Club 47 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The deluxe version also includes a 15 track soundtrack CD with many previously unreleased performances including: Man Smart Woman Smarter, I Never Will Marry, Barbara Allen, Silver Dagger, Fennario, Oh Freedom, With God On Our Side, A Song For David, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Carry It On, I Pity the Poor Immigrant (duet w/Bob Dylan), Diamonds And Rust, Love Song To A Stranger, Day After Tomorrow, and Jerusalem.
Read band member Dirk Powell's account of a meeting between Joan and some Vietnam veterans in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on Tuesday, August 11.
So you weren't at the Newport Folk Festival on August 2, when Joan took the stage 50 years after her appearance at the first Festival in 1959? No problem. NPR has archived the festival's performances, and you can listen to Joan's set here!
Like people around the world, Joan has been following the news of the happenings in Iran, and would like to use this space to say the following:
To the People of Iran:
In you the world sees the power of nonviolence. We hear it in the roar of your silence and see it in your eyes as you sit down peacefully in the face of terror. We are moved by your courage and inspired by your sacrifices.
I am fortunate to be alive to witness this movement. I send you my prayers, love, and support.
--Joan Baez
Our deepest thanks to Reza Salari for his help in the English to Persian/Farsi translation of the lyrics to "We Shall Overcome."
Barbara Goldsmith of The New York Times Book Review said, "[A] revealing autobiography...[H]er honesty and ideals are appealing, and in her life story one can see the passage of an artistic Everyman." Twenty-two years after its original release, Joan's autobiography And A Voice To Sing With was re-released as a trade paperback on July 21, 2009, by Simon & Schuster.
Joan's is a journey of the spirit, told with intimacy and passion as she shares her introduction to folk music and her baptism as its first female star in the coffee houses of Cambridge, Massachusetts. She recounts her musical and personal entwinement with Bob Dylan; her marriage to David Harris, and their painful breakup; and the joy she found upon the birth of her son, Gabriel. With a new introduction by acclaimed music critic Anthony DeCurtis, this book is the story of an American cultural icon. Marked by the openness and vulnerability that have touched us in her music, and the passion and integrity that have informed her politics, this is a disarmingly frank and stirring memoir of the life and work of one of the most extraordinary performers of our time.
On Monday, July 27th Joan and her touring band participated in Elect-A-Lujah!, a fundraiser for Reverend Billy Talen's New York City mayoral campaign. The event was held at the Highline Ballroom. Appearing with Joan at the event were the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir, Greta Gaines and Raoul Malo, the New York Street Vendors Chorus, Yetta Kurland and Jollyship the Whiz-Bang. (photo at left by Eric H. Brown)
On Sunday, June 7, 2009, Joan made a special appearance at a Garden Gala in Atherton, California. This event was for the benefit of InnVision, a program based in Santa Clara County that supports a coalition of homeless shelters, emergency, short and long-term housing facilities, food and clothes closets, meal services, medical services, and an Opportunity Center in Palo Alto. Check out photos from the event.
On May 21, 2009, Joan joined the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus for their spring performance at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. The theme of the show was "Tune In, Turn Up, Sing Out." The program celebrated the music (not to mention the fashions) of the 1960s, and Joan joined the Chorus for a few numbers, including "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"/"Swingin' With the Saints" and "Turn Turn Turn," as well as "Imagine."
A limited edition CD from this performance is available now on the Chorus' website.
On May 1st, Joan made a special guest appearance at Songs of Survival: Voices from Burma, a benefit event for the Foundation for the People of Burma at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Also appearing on this first anniversary of Cyclone Nargis was an extraordinary Burmese choir from the Gitameit Music Center.
On April 28th, the Collector's Editions of both Gone From Danger and Ring Them Bells were released. Gone From Danger includes a bonus CD of Joan's 1997 performance on public radio's Mountain Stage. Joining Joan on eight of the ten songs from the album are Dar Williams, Sinead Lohan, Betty and Gene Elders, and Richard Shindell. Ring Them Bells (previously released in the UK), features an additional six tracks, including three solo songs, and one additional song with Tish Hinojosa, one additional song with Indigo Girls and one additional song with Mary Chapin Carpenter. (Scroll down for more info on this release.) Both Collector's Edition CDs are on Joan's label, Bobolink, and distributed by Razor & Tie.
Joan is one of forty women featured in Zoe Sallis' new book Our Stories, Our Visions. Sallis asked simple questions of the women, opening them up to talk about their work, achievements, hopes, and fears. This book captures the voices of women who have fought hard to succeed in their chosen fields and are striving to make a difference. In addition to Joan, the women range from such notables as Isabel Allende, Maya Angelou, Bianca Jagger, Yoko Ono, Mariane Pearl, Paloma Picasso, the late Benazir Bhutto, Jane Fonda and Sinead O'Connor, among others.
On April 1, 2009, the Academy of American Poets presented its seventh annual benefit, Poetry & the Creative Mind, at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. Each year, Poetry & The Creative Mind kicks off National Poetry Month, which was established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and is now the largest literary celebration in the world. Joan joined the program this year, along with Mia Farrow, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Wynton Marsalis and others. To get more information on this event, visit www.poets.org.
March 24 was the release date for Grammy-winning classical guitarist Sharon Isbin's Journey To The New World, which includes the "Joan Baez Suite: Opus 144," a piece by John Duarte comprised of songs from Joan's early career: "Once I Had A Sweetheart," "Rambler Gambler," "House of the Rising Sun," "The Lily Of The West," "The Unquiet Grave," "Silkie," "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," "Rake and Rambling Boy," "Wildwood Flower," and "The Trees They Do Grow High." The Sony Classical label CD also features Joan's vocals on "I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger" and "Go 'Way From My Window." Click here to order. Photo at left is of Joan and Sharon in the studio for the recording of Joan's vocals.
In January, following the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, Joan traveled to the Beacon Sloop Club in Newburgh, New York, where she met up with Pete Seeger for a photo shoot for Rolling Stone magazine. We've got some additional photos from the day, taken by Claire Smith. Enjoy!
Joan had the great pleasure of traveling to Washington, DC, for the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama. She also performed at the First Inaugural Peace Ball sponsored by Busboys and Poets. Go here to see all the pics!
Joan's latest album, Day After Tomorrow, her first new studio recording in five years, is out now! Joan worked with producer Steve Earle and a band that included bluegrass veterans Tim O'Brien and Darryl Scott, as well as Viktor Krauss and Kenny Malone. The album features three songs written by Steve Earle, including "God Is God," a song Joan debuted during her recent tour. You can hear some of the songs on the music player at Joan's MySpace profile. Day After Tomorrow also includes songs by Eliza Gilkyson, Patty Griffin, Tom Waits, Diana Jones and Thea Gilmore. Click HERE for more about this exciting release!
We join the world in mourning the death of traditional folk great Odetta at 77 from heart disease in New York. Significant obituaries ran in both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Joan was deeply saddened by the news and offered the following:
"I knew Odetta from my earliest beginnings in folk music. As I was making the transition from my youthful attempts at rhythm and blues to what would become my future livelihood, Odetta took me under her gracious (and sizable) wing, giving me assurance, confidence, and inspiration. She escorted me to the first Newport Folk Festival and nurtured and coaxed me along the new terrain as if I were her child, which, in a way, I was. Her kindness to me meant everything.
Odetta gave us decades of her extraordinary gift in song and took us to a sacred place which existed somewhere between ourselves and God.
Be sure to pick up the DVD release of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The Best of Season 3.
Joan's memorable appearance on this show was on March 30, 1969, and it's included in this collection.
Joan performs "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "Green, Green Grass of Home," as well as joining Tom and Dick Smothers on "I Shall Be Released."
Get yours now!
Visit Joan's MySpace profile to view a video interview with Joan and Steve Earle discussing the making of Day After Tomorrow.
And if you haven't already done so, be sure to join the MySpace community and get added to Joan's "friends" list.
On September 18, Joan received the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award at the Americana Music Association's seventh annual awards show on September 18 in Nashville. The honor recognizes and celebrates artist who have ignited discussion and challenged the status quo through their music and actions. Past recipients of this award include Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Judy Collins, Mavis Staples, and Steve Earle, who presented the award to Joan. Joan also offered a moving performance of "Day After Tomorrow."
On July 22, 2008, Telarc released the new Maria Muldaur CD called Yes We Can!. This release showcases the work of some of the most socially conscious songwriters (i.e. Dylan) of the past half-century, and along with Joan as a special guest, features appearances by Bonnie Raitt, Odetta, Jane Fonda, Holly Near and Phoebe Snow.
Wildflower Records released Born To The Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins on October 14, 2008. Joan is among the 15 artists contributing a track to the CD, offering a beautiful version of Collins' "Since You've Asked." The tribute record will also include artists such as Dolly Parton, Chrissie Hynde, Rufus Wainwright, Dar Williams and Leonard Cohen.
On June 27 Joan appeared with Johnny Clegg and the Soweto Gospel Choir in Hyde Park, London, as part of the 46664 benefit concert to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. You can view a youtube video of this performance here. The audio and video are a bit out of synch, but it's nice to see.
Are you interested in joining other Joan Baez fans in an internet discussion group? It's a way of interacting, exchanging ideas, sharing reviews and having discussions with other fans regarding Joan, her music, tours, politics, etc. If you are interested in participating in such a group, just send an e-mail to JBWebPages@aol.com stating that you would like to join. (Automated sign-up is not available at this time.) Please include your name and city/state/country. You have a choice between individual e-mails or the "Digest" version, which is one or two e-mail messages a day containing all the messages from that day. Please be sure to specify which version you prefer.
You can view and/or listen to Joan's conversation with Boston Globe rock journalist Steve Morse at Club Passim in Cambridge on March 27, 2008, at WGBH Radio's website. Enjoy!
On April 22, 2008, the Rhythm Safari label released The Power of One: The Songs of Johnny Clegg, a tribute to the South African artist who wrote "Asimbonanga." Joan recorded "Asimbonanga" on her Recently album back in 1987. For this Clegg tribute album, producer Hilton Rosenthal did a special remix of Joan's recording with one by The Soweto Gospel Choir. The result is a stirring new version of this amazing song.
If you can't find it in your local record store, you can purchase The Power of One online at iTunes.
Look for Joan's guest appearance on the new Thea Gilmore CD, Liejacker, on the Fruitcake Records/Universal label (UK). Joan duets with Thea on the song, "The Lower Road." Another version of this song appears on Joan's own CD Day After Tomorrow.
In 2008, both Joan and Passim Center (originally Club 47 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) celebrated their 50th anniversaries. In March 2008 Joan was hosted by Passim for two evenings. First, on March 27, "A Conversation with Joan Baez" featured Joan in a dialogue with Steve Morse, rock journalist for the Boston Globe. The following night, March 28, Joan presented a concert at Sanders Theatre, where Club Passim honored her with a lifetime achievement award. Check out some wonderful photos from the evening!
On October 18, 2007, Joan was honored at the Huntington's Disease Society of America's 40th Anniversary "Guthrie Awards." This event took place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
Here it is, folks! The 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Joan by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), the organization that bestows the GRAMMY Awards. You can go to their website www.grammy.com to read more about it and see photos and video from the evening. The Lifetime Achievement Award honors lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium, and the award is decided by vote of The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. The award was presented to Joan during a February 10th ceremony at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.(Photos above: Joan accepting her award; Joan with her tour merchandise manager Jim Stewart; the Grammy Award)
The ceremony was attended by a group of Joan's friends and associates who were there to share in the excitement. (Photo at left: Joan with her good friend Colleen Creedon)
CONGRATULATIONS, JOAN!!! This honor is so richly deserved!
To top off the weekend, Joan also appeared on the Grammy Award televised event on Sunday, February 11th, introducing a performance by the Dixie Chicks.
The John Mellencamp CD, Freedom's Road, features a duet by Mellencamp and Joan on a song called "Jim Crow."
Joan's live CD, BOWERY SONGS was culled from Joan's performance at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City on November 6, 2004. In addition to old and new favorites, the CD includes four previously unrecorded songs - "Dink's Song," "Seven Curses," "Finlandia," and "Jerusalem."
Joan is featured on the current installment of Bob Dylan's ongoing "Bootleg Series" for Columbia/Legacy Records. The Bootleg Series Volume 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964 - Concert at Philharmonic Hall features Joan on four tracks: "Mama, You Been On My Mind," "Silver Dagger," "With God On Our Side," and "It Ain't Me, Babe."
On September 23, 2003, Universal Music released a boxed set of 4 CDs, encompassing Joan's six complete A&M recordings, Come From The Shadows, Where Are You Now, My Son?, Gracias a La Vida, Diamonds & Rust, From Every Stage, and Gulf Winds.It also features bonus material and special liner notes penned by Arthur Levy.
Vanguard Records has released the "Original Master Series" of Joan's catalog with Vanguard. These re-issues feature 20-bit remastering and have new graphics, liner notes wonderfully written by Arthur Levy, deluxe slip cover cases, and additional tracks (some previously unreleased) when possible. . Re-issues contain the following bonus tracks:
• Joan Baez - "Maid of Constant Sorrow," "Woman Blues," and "John Riley" (with a previously unissued verse).
• Joan Baez, Volume 2 - "Once I Loved a Boy," "Longest Train I Ever Saw," and "Poor Boy."
• Noel - "The First Noel," "We Three Kings," "Virgin Mary," "Good Christian Kings," "Burgundian Carol," and "Away in a Manger."
• In Concert - "Streets of Laredo" and "My Good Old Man" (both retrieved from the vinyl version of Very Early Joan), and "My Lord What A Morning."
• In Concert, Part Two - "Rambler Gambler" (from Very Early Joan), "Railroad Bill" (from original vinyl version of this album), and the previously unreleased tracks, "Death of Emmett Till," "Tomorrow Is A Long Time," and "When First Unto This Country A Stranger I Came."
• 5 - "Tramp on the Street" (early version) and "Long Black Veil" featuring the Charles River Valley Boys.
• Farewell Angelina - early versions of "Rock Salt and Nails," "The Water is Wide," and "One Too Many Mornings."
• Joan - "Oh, Had I a Golden Thread" and "Autumn Leaves" (sung in French).
• Baptism - "Mystic Numbers: 36. Wedding Song," "When The Shy Star Goes Forth In Heaven," and "The Angel."
• Any Day Now - "Blowin' in the Wind" and "It Ain't Me Babe" (both from a live performance in Japan)
• David's Album - "How Can I Miss You" and "The Last Thing On My Mind" (previously unreleased studio version)
• One Day At A Time - "Sing Me Back Home" and "Mama Tried"
• Blessed Are... - "Maria Dolores," "Plane Wreck At Los Gatos (Deportee)," and "Warm And Tender Love"
Check out Joan's wall paintings in locations in Paris and Brusson, Italy.
Save the Date!
On Sunday, April 25th, Joan will be one of a host of international artists honoring the great Mercedes Sosa in a tribute concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
Congratulations go out to classical guitarist Sharon Isbin whose recording Journey To The New World garnered a Grammy Award in the Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) category. This album includes the "Joan Baez Suite: Opus 144," a piece by John Duarte comprised of songs from Joan's early career: "Once I Had A Sweetheart," "Rambler Gambler," "House of the Rising Sun," "The Lily Of The West," "The Unquiet Grave," "Silkie," "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," "Rake and Rambling Boy," "Wildwood Flower," and "The Trees They Do Grow High." The Sony Classical label CD also features Joan's vocals on "I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger" and "Go 'Way From My Window."
On Monday, July 27th Joan and her touring band participated in Elect-A-Lujah!, a fundraiser for Reverend Billy Talen's New York City mayoral campaign. The event was held at the Highline Ballroom. Appearing with Joan at the event were the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir, Greta Gaines and Raoul Malo, the New York Street Vendors Chorus, Yetta Kurland and Jollyship the Whiz-Bang. (photo at left by Eric H. Brown)
Be sure to pick up the DVD release of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The Best of
Visit Joan's 
On July 22, 2008, 
On June 27 Joan appeared with Johnny Clegg and the Soweto Gospel Choir in Hyde Park, London, as part of the 
On April 22, 2008, the 
The ceremony was attended by a group of Joan's friends and associates who were there to share in the excitement. (Photo at left: Joan with her good friend Colleen Creedon)