View source for Joan Baez

{{Short description|American contemporary folk musician (born 1941)}}
{{for|the album|Joan Baez (album)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Joan Baez
| image             = Joan Baez at The Egg (Albany, NY), March 2016 (cropped).jpg
| image_upright     =
| caption           = Baez in 2016
| alt               =
| background        = solo_singer
| birth_name        = Joan Chandos Baez
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1941|1|9}}
| birth_place       = Staten Island, New York, U.S.
| origin            =
| occupation        = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|musician|activist}}
| instrument        = {{flatlist|
* Vocals
* guitar
}}
| genre             = {{flatlist|
* [[Folk music|Folk]]
* [[folk rock]]
* [[Americana (music)|Americana]]
* [[country folk]]
* [[gospel music|gospel]]
* [[Latin music (genre)|Latin]]
}}
| years_active      = 1958–present
| label             = {{flatlist|
* [[Vanguard Records|Vanguard]]
* [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]
* [[A&M Records|A&M]]
* [[Columbia Records|Portrait/CBS]]
* [[Gold Castle Records|Gold Castle]]
* [[Virgin Records|Virgin]]
* Guardian
* [[E1 Entertainment|Koch]]
* [[Razor & Tie]]
}}
| spouse            = {{marriage|[[David Harris (activist)|David Harris]]|1968|1973|reason=divorce}}
| website           = {{official URL}}
}}

'''Joan Chandos Baez''' ({{IPAc-en|b|aɪ|z}},{{efn|Baez pronounces her surname {{IPAc-en|b|aɪ|z}}, though it is commonly pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|aɪ|ɛ|z}}.<ref>{{citation|last=Baez|first=Joan|year=2009|title=And A Voice to Sing With: A Memoir|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York City|quote=I gave ''Time'' a long-winded explanation of the pronunciation of my name which came out wrong, was printed wrong in ''Time'' magazine, and has been pronounced wrong ever since. It's not "Buy-ezz"; it's more like "Bize," but never mind.|page=61}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|dictionary=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary|last=Wells|first=J. C.|location=Harlow, England|publisher=Pearson Education Ltd. |title=Baez 'baɪez; baɪ'ez —''but the singer'' Joan Baez ''prefers'' baɪz  |year=2000}}</ref>}} {{IPA|es|ˈbaes|lang}}; born January 9, 1941)<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/01/09/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-9-2020/6871578415895/|title= UPI Almanac for Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020|work= [[United Press International]] | date= January 9, 2020|access-date=January 16, 2020 |archive-date= January 15, 2020|archive-url= https://archive.today/20200115192229/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/01/09/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-9-2020/6871578415895/|url-status=live|quote=...singer Joan Baez in 1941 (age 79)}}</ref> is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Baez |first=Joan |title=When you see my mother, ask her to dance: poems |date=2024 |publisher=Godine |isbn=978-1-56792-801-3 |location=Boston}}</ref> Her [[contemporary folk music]] often includes songs of protest and [[social justice]].<ref>Jackson, Ernie. "Folk Guitarists". ''The Everything Guitar Book Joelma''. F+W Publications Inc., 2007. {{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=May 2025}}</ref> Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more than 30 albums.

Baez is generally regarded as a [[folk singer]], but her music has diversified since the [[counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture era of the 1960s]] and encompasses genres such as [[folk rock]], pop, [[Country music|country]], and [[gospel music]]. She began her recording career in 1960 and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, ''[[Joan Baez (album)|Joan Baez]]'', ''[[Joan Baez, Vol. 2]]'' and ''[[Joan Baez in Concert]]'', all achieved [[Music recording sales certification|gold record]] status.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joan-baez-mn0000069153/biography| title = Joan Baez&nbsp;– Biography| author = Ruhlemann, William| website = [[AllMusic]]| date = May 6, 2009| access-date = December 13, 2009| archive-date = December 6, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131206201345/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joan-baez-mn0000069153/biography| url-status = live}}</ref> Although a songwriter herself, Baez generally interprets others' work,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94315624 |title=Joan Baez: Playing For 'Tomorrow' |author-link=Liane Hansen |last=Hansen |first=Liane |date=September 7, 2008 |publisher=NPR |access-date=September 15, 2017 |quote=Reinterpreting other musicians' songs is nothing new to Baez, who says she considers herself more an interpreter than a songwriter. |archive-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916140721/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94315624 |url-status=live }}</ref> having recorded many traditional songs and songs written by [[the Allman Brothers Band]], [[the Beatles]], [[Jackson Browne]], [[Leonard Cohen]], [[Woody Guthrie]], [[Violeta Parra]], [[the Rolling Stones]], [[Pete Seeger]], [[Paul Simon]], [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Bob Marley]], and many others. She was one of the first major artists to record songs by [[Bob Dylan]] in the early 1960s; Baez was already an internationally celebrated artist and did much to popularize his early songwriting efforts.<ref>{{cite web |last=Howell |first=Peter |title=Joan Baez gets her apology |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2009/09/21/joan_baez_gets_her_apology.html |work=Toronto Star |year=2009 |access-date=January 9, 2016 |archive-date=January 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101010842/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2009/09/21/joan_baez_gets_her_apology.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Broadus |first1=Ray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&q=baez+record+popularize+dylan&pg=PA56 |title=The Guide to United States Popular Culture |last2=Browne |first2=Pat |date=2001 |publisher=Popular Press |isbn=978-0879728212 |page=56}}</ref> Her tumultuous relationship with Dylan later became the subject of songs by each of them and generated much public speculation.<ref>{{cite web |date=January 5, 2022 |title=The song Joan Baez wrote about her breakup with Bob Dylan |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-masterpiece-that-joan-baez-wrote-about-her-breakup-with-bob-dylan/ |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US |archive-date=February 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206193851/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-masterpiece-that-joan-baez-wrote-about-her-breakup-with-bob-dylan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On her later albums she has found success interpreting the work of more recent songwriters, including [[Ryan Adams]], [[Josh Ritter]], [[Steve Earle]], [[Natalie Merchant]], and [[Joe Henry]].

Baez's songs include "[[Diamonds & Rust (song)|Diamonds & Rust]]" and [[cover version|covers]] of [[Phil Ochs]]'s "[[There but for Fortune (song)|There but for Fortune]]" and [[the Band]]'s "[[The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down]]". She also recorded "[[Farewell, Angelina (song)|Farewell, Angelina]]", "[[Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word]]", "[[Forever Young (Bob Dylan song)|Forever Young]]", "[[Here's to You (song)|Here's to You]]", "[[Joe Hill (song)|Joe Hill]]", "[[Sweet Sir Galahad]]" and "[[We Shall Overcome]]". Baez performed fourteen songs at the 1969 [[Woodstock Festival]] and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of [[nonviolence]], [[civil rights]], [[Human rights activist|human rights]], and the [[Environment (biophysical)|environment]].<ref name="Baez, Brown">{{cite news|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/6173753/Joan-Baez-interview.html|title = Joan Baez interview|author = Brown, Mick|date = September 15, 2009|access-date = December 13, 2009|newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]]|location = London|archive-date = December 18, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171218013410/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/6173753/Joan-Baez-interview.html|url-status = live}}</ref> Baez was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] on April 7, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inductees: Joan Baez|url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/joan-baez|website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|access-date=December 20, 2016|archive-date=December 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221000123/https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/joan-baez|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early and personal life==
Baez was born in the [[Staten Island]] borough of New York City on January 9, 1941.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://joanbaez.com/chronology.html |title=Chronology |publisher=Joan Baez official website |access-date=January 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506020524/http://joanbaez.com/chronology.html |archive-date=May 6, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her paternal grandfather Alberto Baez left the [[Catholic Church]] to become a [[Methodist]] [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]] and moved to the U.S. when her father was two years old. Her father [[Albert Baez]] (1912–2007) was born in [[Puebla]], Mexico,<ref>Liberatore, Paul (May 20, 2007). [http://www.marinij.com/ci_5484248 "Noted scientist was father of Joan Baez and Mimi Farina"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304034135/http://www.marinij.com/ci_5484248?source=rss |date=March 4, 2012}}. ''Marin Independent Journal''. Retrieved May 8, 2010.</ref> and grew up in [[Brooklyn]], New York, where his father preached to and advocated for  a Spanish-speaking congregation.<ref>Baez, Rev. Alberto (October 11, 1935). [https://web.archive.org/web/19990220062124/http://newdeal.feri.org/texts/406.htm  Clergy letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, FDR Personal File], newdeal.feri.org; New Deal Network. Retrieved May 10, 2007.</ref> Albert first considered becoming a minister but instead turned to the study of mathematics and [[physics]] and received his PhD from Stanford University in 1950. Albert was later credited as a co-inventor of the [[X-ray microscope]].<ref>Baez, Albert V. [http://www.ndt.net/abstract/ios_rt/data/v7n2a1.htm "Anecdotes about the Early Days of X-Ray Optics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120152635/https://www.ndt.net/abstract/ios_rt/data/v7n2a1.htm |date=November 20, 2018 }} ''Journal of X-Ray Science and Technology''; {{ISSN|0895-3996}}. Volume 8, number 2, 1998. Pages: 90 ...</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hispanicphysicists.org/recognition/bioBaez/|title=Recognition of: Albert V. Baez|publisher=[[National Society of Hispanic Physicists]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726151557/http://www.hispanicphysicists.org/recognition/bioBaez/|archive-date=July 26, 2011|access-date=November 3, 2013}}</ref><ref>Albert V. Baez (June 7, 1952). [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v169/n4310/abs/169963b0.html "Resolving Power in Diffraction Microscopy with Special Reference to X-Rays"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919071438/http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v169/n4310/abs/169963b0.html |date=September 19, 2011 }} ''Nature'' 169, 963–964; {{doi|10.1038/169963b0}}</ref> Joan's cousin [[John C. Baez]] is a [[mathematical physicist]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/interview1.html|title=Interview by David Morrison|website=Math.ucr.edu|access-date=May 24, 2009|archive-date=December 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201004744/http://www.math.ucr.edu/home/baez/interview1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Her mother Joan Chandos Baez (née Bridge), referred to as "Joan Senior" or "Big Joan", was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the second daughter of an English Anglican priest who claimed to be descended from the [[Duke of Chandos|Dukes of Chandos]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/duke-forced-on-defensive-over-wind-turbines-7577552.html|title=Duke forced on defensive over wind turbines|date=March 19, 2012|website=Evening Standard|access-date=October 18, 2019|archive-date=October 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018131614/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/duke-forced-on-defensive-over-wind-turbines-7577552.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Davison |first=Phil |date=April 25, 2013 |title=Obituary: Joan Bridge Baez, anti-war activist |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-joan-bridge-baez-anti-war-activist-1577788 |work=The Scotsman |access-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526054324/https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-joan-bridge-baez-anti-war-activist-1577788 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="PAO2013" /> Born on April 11, 1913,<ref>National Records of Scotland 685/1 357.</ref> she died on April 20, 2013 aged 100.<ref name="PAO2013">{{cite web|url=http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=29411|title=Mother of Joan Baez dies at 100|last=Boyce|first=Dave|date=April 25, 2013|publisher=Palo Alto Online|access-date=November 3, 2013|archive-date=June 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602162131/http://paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=29411|url-status=live}}</ref>

Baez was the second of three sisters, all of whom were political activists and musicians. The eldest was Pauline Thalia Baez Bryan (1938–2016), also known as Pauline Marden, and the youngest was Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña (1945–2001), who was better known as [[Mimi Fariña]]. The Baez family converted to [[Religious Society of Friends|Quakerism]] during Joan's early childhood, and she has continued to identify with the tradition, particularly in her commitment to [[pacifism]] and social issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postcity.com/Eat-Shop-Do/Do/November-2011/Q-A-Joan-Baez-on-activism-performing-in-TO-and-the-Quaker-tradition/|title=Q&A: Joan Baez on religion, the Occupy movement and her rare T.O. concert appearance|website=Postcity.com|date=November 2, 2011|access-date=October 18, 2019|archive-date=March 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329161333/https://www.postcity.com//Eat-Shop-Do/Do/November-2011/Q-A-Joan-Baez-on-activism-performing-in-TO-and-the-Quaker-tradition|url-status=live}}</ref> While growing up, Baez was subjected to racial slurs and discrimination because of her Mexican heritage. Consequently, she became involved in social causes early in her career. She declined to play in any white student venues that were segregated, which meant that when she toured the Southern states, she would play only at black colleges.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://womenshistory.about.com/od/joanbaez/a/joan_baez.htm?ad=semD&an=google_s&am=broad&q=joan%20baez%20autobiography&dqi=Joan%2520Baez%2520ethnicity&o=22856&l=sem&qsrc=999&askid=730a6619-e22f-47c0-96a8-27f54b54e0c0-0-ab_gsb |title=Biography of Joan Baez |publisher=about education |access-date=November 10, 2015 |archive-date=January 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121031241/https://www.thoughtco.com/joan-baez-biography-3529421?ad=semD&an=google_s&am=broad&q=joan%20baez%20autobiography&dqi=Joan%2520Baez%2520ethnicity&o=22856&l=sem&qsrc=999&askid=730a6619-e22f-47c0-96a8-27f54b54e0c0-0-ab_gsb |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Owing to her father's work with [[UNESCO]], their family moved many times, living in towns across the U.S. as well as in England, France, Switzerland, Spain, Canada, and the Middle East, including [[Iraq]]. Joan Baez became involved with a variety of social causes early in her career, including [[civil rights]] and [[nonviolence]].<ref>Jackson, Ernie (2007). ''The Everything Guitar Book''"Joan Baez". Adams Media; 2nd ed. p. 236. {{ISBN|1-59869-250-X}}. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref> [[Social justice]], she stated in the [[PBS]] series ''[[American Masters]]'', is the true core of her life, "looming larger than music".<ref name="American Masters">{{cite episode
 |url          = http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/joan-baez-how-sweet-the-sound/1185/
 |series       = American Masters
 |title        = Joan Baez: How Sweet The Sound
 |air-date     = October 14, 2009
 |network      = [[PBS]]
 |access-date  = December 17, 2009
 |archive-date = December 8, 2009
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20091208091641/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/joan-baez/how-sweet-the-sound/1185/
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref> Baez spent much of her formative youth living in the [[San Francisco Bay area]],<ref name="badass">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/joan-baezs-fighting-side-the-life-and-times-of-a-secret-badass-129051/|title=Joan Baez's Fighting Side: The Life and Times of a Secret Badass|last=Browne|first=David|date=April 5, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708191522/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/joan-baezs-fighting-side-the-life-and-times-of-a-secret-badass-129051/|archive-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref> where she graduated from [[Palo Alto High School]] in 1958.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://patch.com/california/paloalto/paly-grad-joan-baez-to-perform-benefit-concert-for-college-fund|title=Paly Grad Joan Baez to Perform Benefit Concert for College Fund|last=van der Kleut|first=Jennifer|date=February 4, 2013|work=Palo Alto Patch|access-date=April 4, 2017|publisher=Patch Media|language=en-US|archive-date=April 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404215927/https://patch.com/california/paloalto/paly-grad-joan-baez-to-perform-benefit-concert-for-college-fund|url-status=live}}</ref> Here, Baez dated Michael New, a fellow student described as "[[Trinidad and Tobago|Trinidad]] English" whom she met at her college in the late 1950s, and occasionally introduced as her husband.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=November 23, 1962 |title=Folk Singing: Sibyl with Guitar |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,829501-4,00.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0040-781X |archive-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003115914/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,829501-4,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Baez committed her first act of [[civil disobedience]] by refusing to leave her [[Palo Alto High School]] classroom in [[Palo Alto, California]] for an [[Civil defense#History|air raid drill]].<ref name=":1">{{cite news |date=February 7, 1958 |title='Conscientious objector' stays at school during test |publisher=Palo Alto Times (archived w/clipping at Conelrad.com) |url=http://www.conelrad.com/atomicsecrets/secrets.php?secrets=10#newspaper |access-date=September 12, 2012 |archive-date=February 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228110148/http://www.conelrad.com/atomicsecrets/secrets.php?secrets=10#newspaper |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite web |last=Sweeney |first=Louise |date=November 13, 1979 |title=Joan Baez on the hunger front |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/187036832.html?dids=187036832:187036832&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |access-date=September 12, 2012 |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |id={{ProQuest| }} |page=B6 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107063109/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/187036832.html?dids=187036832:187036832&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |url-status=dead }}{{subscription required}}<br />{{cite web |date=November 14, 1989 |title=Joan Baez Appears at Stamford Palace |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4ihJAAAAIBAJ&pg=1037,2588671&dq=refusing-to-leave-school-during-an-air-raid-drill&hl=en |access-date=September 12, 2012 |location=Stamford, Connecticut |archive-date=April 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415000125/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4ihJAAAAIBAJ&pg=1037,2588671&dq=refusing-to-leave-school-during-an-air-raid-drill&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

Baez remained close to her younger sister Mimi up until Mimi's death in 2001 and mentioned in the 2009 ''American Masters'' documentary that she had grown closer to her older sister Pauline in later years. Currently, Baez is a resident of [[Woodside, California]], where she lived with her mother until the latter's death in 2013.<ref name="PAO2013" /> She has said that her house has a backyard [[tree house]] in which she spends time meditating, writing, and "being close to nature".<ref>Hayes, John (March 8, 2002). [http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20020308baez3.asp "Music Preview: Joan Baez says hard times are over"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210100755/http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20020308baez3.asp |date=February 10, 2007 }}, ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''.</ref> Since stepping down from the stage in 2019, she has devoted herself to portraiture.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Martoccio |first1=Angie |date=November 2, 2020 |title=Joan Baez on the 2020 Election and Painting Portraits for Social Change |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/joan-baez-paintings-2020-election-interview-1083686/ |access-date=October 3, 2022 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |archive-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003120540/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/joan-baez-paintings-2020-election-interview-1083686/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Owing to false assumptions that have been promoted about her, Baez stated in 2019 that she was not a vegetarian and had not been part of the [[Second-wave feminism|second-wave feminist movement]], remarking that her stardom shielded her from the everyday struggles of other women.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/arts/music/joan-baez-woodstock.html|title=Joan Baez on 3 Days of Pregnancy and Priggishness at Woodstock|work=The New York Times|date=August 5, 2019|first=Rob|last=Tannenbaum|access-date=January 26, 2023|archive-date=January 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129224051/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/arts/music/joan-baez-woodstock.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She is the subject of the 2023 documentary ''[[Joan Baez: I Am a Noise]]'' in which she reflected on among other things her personal struggles, her political activism, and her personal and professional relationship with Bob Dylan.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rooney |first=David |date=February 17, 2023 |title='Joan Baez I Am a Noice' review: the legendary folk singer opens up |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/joan-baez-i-am-a-noise-review-1235324591/ |access-date=September 19, 2023 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |archive-date=October 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016121321/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/joan-baez-i-am-a-noise-review-1235324591/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="people20232">''How Joan Baez found peace'' by Ilana Kaplan  ''People'' magazine  October 16, 2023, page 61</ref> She also related that Mimi and she had struggled with depression and after years of therapy came to believe that they had been abused by their father.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marcos |first=Carlos |date=April 18, 2024 |title=Joan Baez reveals what no one knew about her life: 'It was devastating to share, but now I am at peace' |url=https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-04-18/joan-baez-reveals-what-no-one-knew-about-her-life-it-was-devastating-to-share-but-now-i-am-at-peace.html |access-date=May 7, 2024 |website=EL PAÍS English |language=en-us}}</ref> In her 2024 poetry collection ''When You See My Mother Ask Her to Dance,'' Joan Baez said that she has been diagnosed with [[Dissociative identity disorder|Dissociative Identity Disorder.]]<ref name=":2" />

==Music career==
The opening line of Baez's memoir ''And a Voice to Sing With'' is "I was born gifted", referring to her singing voice, which she explained was given to her and for which she can take no credit.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Lw5Y0nsWd0C&q=Joan+Baez+%22I+was+born+gifted%22&pg=PR25|title=And A Voice to Sing With: A Memoir|first=Joan|last=Baez|year=2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster|via=Google Books|isbn=9781451688405}}</ref> A friend of Joan's father gave her a [[ukulele]]. She learned four chords, which enabled her to play [[rhythm and blues]], the music she was listening to at the time. Her parents, however, were fearful that the music would lead her into a life of [[drug addiction]].<ref name="DemNow2009">[http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/4/legendary_folk_singer_activist_pete_seeger Democracy Now, May 4, 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123092723/http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/4/legendary_folk_singer_activist_pete_seeger |date=January 23, 2015 }} (transcript). Interview with Joan Baez, by [[Amy Goodman]] at Pete Seeger's 90th birthday celebration.</ref> When Baez was 13, her aunt took her to a concert by [[folk music]]ian [[Pete Seeger]], and Baez found herself strongly moved by his music.<ref>Hajdu, David. ''Positively Fourth Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña and Richard Fariña'' (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=t4I1CQyVFkEC&q=thirteen The passage about that Pete Seeger concert's effect] on Baez starts on p. 7 of the book. The concert was in 1955 at Palo Alto High School. It was a fundraiser for the California Democratic Party.</ref> She soon began practicing the songs of his [[Musical repertoire|repertoire]] and performing them publicly. One of her earliest public performances was at a retreat in [[Saratoga, California]], for a youth group from Temple Beth Jacob, a [[Redwood City, California]], Jewish congregation. A few years later, in 1957, Baez bought her first [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]] acoustic guitar.

===College music scene in Massachusetts===
After graduating from high school in 1958, Baez and her family moved from the San Francisco area to [[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]], after her father accepted a faculty position at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]].<ref name=badass/> At that time, it was in the center of the up-and-coming folk-music scene and she began performing near home in Boston and nearby [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]]. She also performed in clubs and attended [[Boston University]] for about six weeks<ref name="American Masters" /> before she gave her first concert at the [[Club Passim|Club 47]] in Cambridge. When designing the poster for the performance, Baez considered changing her performing name to either Rachel Sandperl, the surname of her longtime mentor [[Ira Sandperl]], or Maria from the song "[[They Call the Wind Maria]]". She later opted against doing so, fearing that people would accuse her of changing her last name because it was Spanish. The audience consisted of her parents, sister Mimi, her boyfriend, and a few friends—a total of eight patrons. Baez was paid ten dollars before she was later asked back and began performing twice a week for $25 per show.<ref>{{cite book |title= And A Voice To Sing With|last= Baez|first= Joan |year= 1987|publisher= Summit Books|isbn= 978-5-551-88863-5|page= 63 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=v2tocQYV1owC&q=joan+baez+mitch+miller&pg=PA63|access-date=August 1, 2010}}</ref>

A few months later, Baez and two other folk enthusiasts made plans to record an album in the cellar of a friend's house. The trio sang solos and duets and a family friend designed the album cover, which was released on Veritas Records that same year as ''[[Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square]]''. Baez later met [[Bob Gibson (musician)|Bob Gibson]] and [[Odetta]], who were at the time two of the most prominent vocalists singing [[folk music|folk]] and [[gospel music]]. Baez cites Odetta as a primary influence along with [[Marian Anderson]] and Pete Seeger.<ref>Baez, Joan. ''And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009, p.&nbsp;43</ref> Gibson invited Baez to perform with him at the 1959 [[Newport Folk Festival]], where they sang two duets, "Virgin Mary Had One Son" and "We Are Crossing Jordan River".<ref name=pc19 /> The performance generated substantial praise for the "barefoot Madonna" with the otherworldly voice, and it was this appearance that led to Baez signing with [[Vanguard Records]] the following year,<ref>{{cite book |title= And A Voice To Sing With|last= Baez|first= Joan |year= 1987|publisher= Summit Books|isbn= 978-5-551-88863-5|page= 62 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=v2tocQYV1owC&q=joan+baez+mitch+miller&pg=PA61|access-date=August 1, 2010}}</ref> although [[Columbia Records]] tried to sign her first.<ref>Baez, Joan (1987). ''And A Voice to Sing With'', pp. 61–62.  Baez describes the afternoon when she met with first Mitch Miller at Columbia, then Maynard Solomon at Vanguard.</ref> Baez later claimed that she felt she would be given more artistic license at a more "low key" label.<ref>{{cite book |title= How the Beatles Destroyed Rock n Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music|last= Wald|first= Elijah|year= 2009 |publisher= Oxford University Press, USA|isbn= 978-0-19-534154-6|page= [https://archive.org/details/howbeatlesdestro00waldx/page/226 226]|url= https://archive.org/details/howbeatlesdestro00waldx|url-access= registration|quote= joan baez mitch miller.|access-date=August 1, 2010}}</ref> Baez's nickname at the time, "Madonna", has been attributed to her clear voice, long hair, and natural beauty,<ref>Abbe A. Debolt, James S. Baugess – The Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture 1440801029 Page 48 "She received the nickname "Madonna" because of the soulful clarity of her soprano voice, long hair, and natural beauty."</ref> and to her role as "Earth Mother".<ref>Terrie M. Rooney  Newsmakers 1998: The People Behind Today's Headlines 0787612308 – 1999  p. 17 "With her pure, three-octave soprano voice, her long hair and natural good looks, and her unpretentious presence, she came to earn the nickname "Madonna" because she represented the "Earth Mother" for the 1960s generation."</ref>

===First albums and 1960s breakthrough===
[[File:Joan Baez 1963.jpg|right|thumb | alt=Baez stands behind a too-tall podium bristling with microphones, wearing a plaid sleeveless top, longish hair in a feather cut |Baez playing at the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|March on Washington]] in August 1963]]
Her true professional career began at the inaugural [[Newport Folk Festival]] in 1959. After that appearance, she recorded her first album for Vanguard, ''[[Joan Baez (album)|Joan Baez]]'' (1960). It was recorded in just four days in the ballroom of New York City's Manhattan Towers Hotel and was produced by [[Fred Hellerman]] of [[The Weavers]], who produced many albums by folk artists. Its songs included traditional folk [[Ballad (music)|ballads]], blues, and [[lament]]s, including [[Child Ballads]], sung to her own guitar accompaniment. The album also included "[[Gracias a la Vida (album)#Track listing|El Preso Numero Nueve]]", a song sung entirely in Spanish, which she would re-record in 1974 for inclusion on her Spanish-language album ''[[Gracias a la Vida (album)|Gracias a la Vida]]''. The album sold moderately well.

[[File:JoanBaez1966-1a.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Ira Sandperl]] and Baez (center) at the [[Frankfurt]] Easter March 1966]]
She made her New York concert debut on November 5, 1960, at the [[92nd Street Y]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.joanbaez.com/chronology.html|title=The Joan Baez Web Pages|website=joanbaez.com|access-date=February 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817040215/http://www.joanbaez.com/chronology.html|archive-date=August 17, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and on November 11, 1961, Baez played her first major New York concert at a sold-out performance at [[The Town Hall (New York City)|Town Hall]]. Robert Shelton, folk critic of the ''[[New York Times]]'', praised the concert, saying, "That superb soprano voice, as lustrous and rich as old gold, flowed purely all evening with a wondrous ease. Her singing (unwound) like a spool of satin."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisdayinrock.com/index.php/general/1961-joan-baez-plays-her-first-major-new-york-concert-at-a-sold/ |author=Stu Steadman |title=1961 – Joan Baez plays her first major New York concert |year=2017 |work=thisdayinrock.com |access-date=June 27, 2021 |archive-date=June 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627171618/http://www.thisdayinrock.com/index.php/general/1961-joan-baez-plays-her-first-major-new-york-concert-at-a-sold/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Years later when Baez thought back to that concert, she laughed, saying: "I remember in 1961 my manager sending me this newspaper (clipping) in the mail (which) read, 'Joan Baez Town Hall Concert, SRO.' I thought SRO meant 'sold right out.' I was so innocent of it all."<ref>David A. Maurer (March 10, 2016). "Joan Baez: Folk Singer, Hereditary Activist". ''The Daily Progress''.</ref>

[[File:Joan Baez (1966).jpg|thumb|upright|Baez at [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Amsterdam Airport]], 1966]]
Her second release, ''[[Joan Baez, Vol. 2]]'' (1961), went [[Music recording sales certification|gold]], as did ''[[Joan Baez in Concert]], Part 1'' (1962) and ''[[Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2]]'' (1963). Like its immediate predecessor, ''Joan Baez, Vol. 2'' contained strictly traditional material. Her two albums of live material, ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1'' and its second counterpart were unique in that unlike most live albums, they contained only new songs rather than established favorites. It was ''Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2'' that featured Baez's first-ever Dylan cover. From the early to the mid-1960s, Baez emerged at the forefront of the American [[roots revival]], where she introduced her audiences to the then-unknown [[Bob Dylan]] and was emulated by artists such as [[Judy Collins]], [[Emmylou Harris]], [[Joni Mitchell]], and [[Bonnie Raitt]]. On November 23, 1962, Baez appeared on the cover of ''Time Magazine''—a rare honor then for a musician. Although primarily an album artist, several of Baez's singles have charted, the first being her 1965 cover of [[Phil Ochs]]' "There but for Fortune", which became a mid-level chart hit in the U.S. and Canada, and a top-ten single in the United Kingdom.

[[File:Joan Baez 1966.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Baez in 1966]]
Baez added other instruments to her recordings on ''[[Farewell, Angelina]]'' (1965), which features several Dylan songs interspersed with more traditional fare. Deciding to experiment with different styles, Baez turned to [[Peter Schickele]], a classical music composer, who provided classical orchestration for her next three albums: ''[[Noël (Joan Baez album)|Noël]]'' (1966), ''[[Joan (album)|Joan]]'' (1967), and ''[[Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time]]'' (1968). ''Noël'' was a Christmas album of traditional material, while ''Baptism'' was akin to a [[concept album]], featuring Baez reading and singing poems written by celebrated poets such as [[James Joyce]], [[Federico García Lorca]], and [[Walt Whitman]]. ''Joan'' featured interpretations of work by contemporary composers, including [[John Lennon]] and [[Paul McCartney]], [[Tim Hardin]], [[Paul Simon]], and [[Donovan]].

In 1968, Baez traveled to [[Nashville, Tennessee]], where a marathon recording session resulted in two albums. The first, ''[[Any Day Now (Joan Baez album)|Any Day Now]]'' (1968), consists exclusively of Dylan covers. The other, the country-music-infused ''[[David's Album]]'' (1969), was recorded for husband [[David Harris (protester)|David Harris]], a prominent anti-[[Vietnam War]] protester eventually imprisoned for [[draft resistance]]. Harris, a country music fan, turned Baez toward more complex [[country rock|country-rock]] influences beginning with ''David's Album''. Later in 1968, Baez published her first memoir, ''Daybreak'' (by [[Dial Press]]). In August 1969, her appearance at [[Woodstock]] in upstate New York raised her international musical and political profile, particularly after the successful release of the documentary film ''[[Woodstock (film)|Woodstock]]'' (1970).

Beginning in the late 1960s, Baez began writing many of her own songs, beginning with "[[Sweet Sir Galahad]]" and "A Song For David", both songs appearing on her 1970 ''[[(I Live) One Day at a Time]]'' album; "Sweet Sir Galahad" was written about her sister Mimi's second marriage, while "A Song For David" was a tribute to Harris. ''One Day at a Time'', like ''David's Album'', featured a decidedly country sound. Baez's distinctive vocal style and political activism had a significant impact on American popular music. She was one of the first musicians to use her popularity as a vehicle for social protest, singing and marching for human rights and peace. [[Pete Seeger]], [[Odetta]], and decades-long friend [[Harry Belafonte]] were her early social justice advocate influences.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/joan-baez-9195061|title=Joan Baez|website=Biography.com|access-date=February 28, 2017|archive-date=March 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302233744/http://www.biography.com/people/joan-baez-9195061|url-status=live}}</ref> Baez came to be considered the "most accomplished interpretive folksinger/songwriter of the 1960s".<ref name="Baez1941">[http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3830.html Joan Baez] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131042744/http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3830.html |date=January 31, 2012 }}. United States History. History.com.</ref> Her appeal extended far beyond the folk music audience.<ref name="Baez1941" /> Of her fourteen Vanguard albums, thirteen made the top 100 of Billboard's mainstream pop chart, eleven made the top forty, eight made the top twenty, and four made the top ten.<ref>{{cite web |author=Artist Biography by William Ruhlmann |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joan-baez-p1917/charts-awards |title=Joan Baez: Charts and Awards, All Music. Retrieved December 1, 2011 |work=AllMusic |date=January 9, 1941 |access-date=December 5, 2013 |archive-date=March 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301025442/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joan-baez-p1917/charts-awards |url-status=live }}</ref>

===1970s and the end of Vanguard years===
[[File:Joan Baez Hamburg 1973 2811730005.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Baez playing in Hamburg, 1973| alt=Joan Baez playing on stage in a Hamburg TV studio, 1973]]
After eleven years with Vanguard, Baez decided in 1971 to cut ties with the label that had released her albums since 1960. She delivered Vanguard one last success with the gold-selling album ''[[Blessed Are...]]'' (1971), which included a top-ten hit in "[[The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down]]", her cover of [[the Band]]'s signature song. With ''[[Come from the Shadows]]'' (1972), Baez switched to [[A&M Records]], where she remained for four years and six albums. Joan Baez wrote "The Story of Bangladesh" in 1971. This song was based on the Pakistani army crackdown on unarmed sleeping Bengali students at Dhaka University on March 25, 1971, which ignited the prolonged nine-month [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/avijit/joan_baez260306.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407094644/http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/avijit/joan_baez260306.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 7, 2014|title=Joan Baez and our Liberation War Avijit Roy|date=April 7, 2014}}</ref> The song was later entitled "The Song of Bangladesh" and released in a 1972 album from Chandos Music.<ref>[http://www.joanbaez.com/Lyrics/bangladesh.html Words and Music by Joan Baez, Song of Bangladesh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210083940/http://www.joanbaez.com/Lyrics/bangladesh.html |date=February 10, 2012 }}, lyrics joanbaez.com.</ref>

During this period in late 1971, she reunited with composer [[Peter Schickele]] to record two tracks, "Rejoice in the Sun" and "Silent Running" for the [[science fiction|science-fiction]] film ''[[Silent Running]]''. The two songs were issued as a single on [[Decca Records|Decca]] (32890). In addition to this, another LP was released on Decca (DL 7-9188) and was later reissued by [[Varèse Sarabande]] on black (STV-81072) and green (VC-81072) vinyl. In 1998, a limited release on CD by the "Valley Forge Record Groupe" was released.

Baez's first album for A&M, ''[[Come from the Shadows]]'', was recorded in Nashville, and included a number of more personal compositions, including "Love Song to a Stranger" and "Myths", as well as work by Mimi Farina, John Lennon, and Anna Marly. ''[[Where Are You Now, My Son?]]'' (1973) featured a 23-minute title song which took up all of the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] of the album. Half [[spoken word]] poem and half tape-recorded sounds, the song documented Baez's visit to [[Hanoi]], [[North Vietnam]], in December 1972 during which she and her traveling companions survived the 11-day-long [[Christmas Bombings]] campaign over Hanoi and [[Haiphong]].<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2002/12/26/joan_baez Democracy Now, December 26, 2002] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509070826/http://www.democracynow.org/2002/12/26/joan_baez |date=May 9, 2010 }} (audio). Interview with Joan Baez by Amy Goodman. ''[[Democracy Now]]''. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref><!-- See Vietnam War in [[Joan Baez#Civil rights|Civil rights]] section below. -->

''[[Gracias a la Vida (album)|Gracias a la Vida]]'' (1974) (the title song written and first performed by Chilean folk singer [[Violeta Parra]]) followed and was a success in both the U.S. and Latin America. It included the song "[[Cucurrucucú paloma]]". Flirting with mainstream pop music as well as writing her own songs for ''[[Diamonds & Rust]]'' (1975), the album became the highest selling of Baez's career and included a second top-ten single in the form of the title track. After ''[[Gulf Winds]]'' (1976), an album of entirely self-composed songs and ''[[From Every Stage]]'' (1976), a live album that had Baez performing songs "from every stage" of her career, Baez again parted ways with a record label when she moved to [[Sony Music Entertainment|CBS Records]] for ''[[Blowin' Away]]'' (1977) and ''[[Honest Lullaby]]'' (1979).

===1980s and 1990s===
In 1980, Baez was given honorary [[Doctor of Humane Letters]] degrees by [[Antioch University]] and [[Rutgers University]] for her political activism and the "universality of her music". In 1983, she appeared on the [[Grammy Awards]], performing Dylan's anthemic "[[Blowin' in the Wind]]", a song she first performed twenty years earlier. Baez also played a significant role in the 1985 [[Live Aid]] concert for African famine relief, opening the U.S. segment of the show in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania. She has toured on behalf of many other causes, including [[Amnesty International]]'s 1986 ''[[A Conspiracy of Hope]]'' tour and a guest spot on their subsequent ''[[Human Rights Now!]]'' tour.

[[File:Dylan-Baez-Santana.jpg|thumb|right | alt=On stage outdoors, Dylan in a leather jacket and iconic porkpie hat & scarf, Baez wears a peasant skirt, sarape, tassled scarf around neck, her arm around Dylan's shoulder. Santana in workman's shirt & knit cap. | [[Bob Dylan]], Baez, and [[Carlos Santana]], performing in 1984]]

Baez found herself without an American label for the release of ''[[Live -Europe '83|Live Europe 83]]'' (1984), which was released in Europe and Canada but not released commercially in the U.S. She did not have an American release until the album ''[[Recently (album)|Recently]]'' (1987) on [[Gold Castle Records]]. In 1987, Baez's second autobiography, called ''And a Voice to Sing With'', was published and became a [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' bestseller]]. That same year, she traveled to the Middle East to visit with and sing songs of peace for Israel and the [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]].

In May 1989, Baez performed at a music festival in [[Communist Czechoslovakia]] called Bratislavská lýra. While there, she met future [[List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak president]] [[Václav Havel]], whom she let carry her guitar so as to prevent his arrest by government agents. During her performance, she greeted members of [[Charter 77]], a dissident human-rights group, which resulted in her microphone being shut off abruptly. Baez then proceeded to sing ''[[a cappella]]'' for the nearly four thousand gathered. Havel cited her as a great inspiration and influence in that country's [[Velvet Revolution]], the revolution in which the Soviet-dominated Communist government there was overthrown.

Baez recorded two more albums with Gold Castle: ''[[Speaking of Dreams]]'', (1989) and ''[[Brothers in Arms (Joan Baez album)|Brothers in Arms]]'' (1991). She then landed a contract with a major label, [[Virgin Records]], recording ''[[Play Me Backwards]]'' (1992) for Virgin shortly before the company was purchased by [[EMI]]. She then switched to Guardian, with whom she produced a live album, ''[[Ring Them Bells]]'' (1995), and a studio album, ''[[Gone from Danger]]'' (1997).

In 1993, at the invitation of [[Refugees International]] and sponsored by the [[Soros Foundation]], she traveled to the war-torn [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] region of former-[[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] in an effort to help bring more attention to the suffering there. She was the first major artist to perform in [[Sarajevo]] since the outbreak of the [[Yugoslav wars|Yugoslav civil war]]. In October 1993, Baez became the first major artist to perform in a professional concert presentation on [[Alcatraz Island]] (a former U.S. federal prison) in San Francisco, California, in a benefit for her sister Mimi's Bread and Roses organization. She later returned for another concert in 1996.

===2000s===
Beginning in 2001, Baez has had several successful long-term engagements as a lead character at San Francisco's [[Teatro ZinZanni]].<ref name="BaezSFChron">{{cite web |url= http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/10/12/DD231448.DTL |title= Now it's Countess Baez |first= Steve |last= Winn |work= [[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date= October 12, 2001 |access-date= August 21, 2007 |archive-date= October 12, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071012170932/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/10/12/DD231448.DTL |url-status= live }}</ref> In August 2001, Vanguard began re-releasing Baez's first 13 albums, which she recorded for the label between 1960 and 1971. The reissues, being released through Vanguard's Original Master Series, feature digitally restored sound, unreleased bonus songs, new and original artwork, and new [[liner notes|liner-note]] essays written by Arthur Levy. Likewise, her six A&M albums were reissued in 2003. In 2003, Baez was also a judge for the third annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.<ref>[http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima_new/imajudges2004.asp 3rd Annual Independent Music Awards&nbsp;– Judges] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112142917/http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima_new/imajudges2004.asp |date=November 12, 2015}} ''Independent Music Awards''; Music Resource Group, LLC, 2004. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref>

[[File:HSB 2005 - Joan Baez.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Baez plays in blue jeans and orange waist jacket, against a backdrop of lush trees | [[Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival]] 2005 at [[Golden Gate Park]]]]
Baez's album, ''[[Dark Chords on a Big Guitar]]'' (2003), features songs by composers half her age, while a November 2004 performance at New York City's [[Bowery Ballroom]] was recorded for a live release, ''[[Bowery Songs]]'' (2005). On October 1, 2005, she performed at the [[Hardly Strictly Bluegrass]] festival, at San Francisco's [[Golden Gate Park]]. Then, on January 13, 2006, Baez performed at the funeral of [[Lou Rawls]], where she led [[Jesse Jackson]] Sr., Wonder, and others in the singing of "[[Amazing Grace]]". On June 6, 2006, Baez joined [[Bruce Springsteen]] on stage at his San Francisco concert, where the two performed the rolling anthem "[[Pay Me My Money Down]]". In September 2006, Baez contributed a live, retooled version of her classic song "Sweet Sir Galahad" to a [[Starbucks]]'s exclusive XM Artist Confidential album. In the new version, she changed the lyric "here's to the dawn of their days" to "here's to the dawn of ''her'' days", as a tribute to her late sister Mimi, about whom Baez wrote the song in 1969.

On October 8, 2006, Baez appeared as a special surprise guest at the opening ceremony of the [[Forum 2000]] international conference in [[Prague]]. Her performance was kept secret from former [[Czech Republic President]] Havel until the moment she appeared on stage. Havel was a great admirer of both Baez and her work. During Baez's next visit to Prague, in April 2007, the two met again when she performed in front of a sold-out house at Prague's [[Lucerna Music Bar#Lucerna Palace|Lucerna Hall]], a building erected by Havel's grandfather. On December 2, 2006, she made a guest appearance at the [[Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir]]'s Christmas Concert at the [[Paramount Theatre (Oakland, California)|Paramount Theatre]] in [[Oakland]], California. Her participation included versions of "[[Let Us Break Bread Together]]" and "Amazing Grace". She also joined the choir in the finale of "[[O Holy Night]]".

[[File:Dresden 07 2008 135 (2684499251).jpg|thumb|left | alt=Baez plays outdoors in brown wide-leg pants, white top, brown waistcoat, blue pearls, and a long orange neck scarf. To her left, a male accompanist in a vest plays a small wooden cigar-box-style guitar | Joan Baez concert in [[Dresden]], Germany, July 2008]]
In February 2007, [[Proper Records]] reissued her 1995 live album ''Ring Them Bells'', which featured duets with artists ranging from [[Dar Williams]] and Mimi Fariña to the [[Indigo Girls]] and [[Mary Chapin Carpenter]]. The reissue features a 16-page booklet and six unreleased live tracks from the original recording sessions. In addition, Baez recorded a duet of "Jim Crow" with [[John Mellencamp]] which appears on his album ''[[Freedom's Road]]'' (2007). Also in February 2007, she received the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]]. The day after receiving the honor, she appeared at the [[Grammy Awards]] ceremony and introduced a performance by the [[Dixie Chicks]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nichols |first=John |date=February 12, 2007 |title=America's Not Ready to Make Nice |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/americas-not-ready-make-nice/ |access-date=June 8, 2024 |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378 |archive-date=June 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608164532/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/americas-not-ready-make-nice/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

September 2008 saw the release of the studio album ''[[Day After Tomorrow (Joan Baez album)|Day After Tomorrow]]'', produced by [[Steve Earle]] and featuring three of his songs. The album was Baez's first charting record in nearly three decades.<ref>[http://www.joanbaez.com/DAT.html Day After Tomorrow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209223524/http://www.joanbaez.com/dat.html |date=February 9, 2016}}. ''joanbaez.com''; Joan Baez official website. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref><ref>Bronson, Fred (September 19, 2008). [https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1929946520080919 Joan Baez back on chart after 29 years] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308233700/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1929946520080919 |date=March 8, 2021 }}. ''Reuters/Billboard''. Retrieved June 18, 2010.</ref> On June 29, 2008, Baez performed on the acoustic stage at the [[Glastonbury Festival 2008|Glastonbury Festival]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/performance.aspx?id=2179 |title=Acoustic Stage lineup, 2008 |access-date=July 2, 2008 |archive-date=May 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501112515/http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/performance.aspx?id=2179 |url-status=dead }}. Glastonbury Music Festival. Archived from the  June 25, 2008.</ref> playing out the final set to a packed audience.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joan Baez plays closing set at Glastonbury 2008 |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/glastonbury-267-1323676 |website=NME |date=June 30, 2008 |access-date=October 26, 2022 |archive-date=October 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026084936/https://www.nme.com/news/music/glastonbury-267-1323676 |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 6, 2008, she played at the [[Montreux Jazz Festival]] in [[Montreux]], Switzerland. During the concert's finale, she spontaneously danced on stage with a band of African percussionists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.montreuxjazz.com/news/index_fr.aspx |title=Montreux Jazz festival |publisher=Montreuxjazz.com |access-date=November 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105212332/http://www.montreuxjazz.com/news/index_fr.aspx |archive-date=November 5, 2011 }}</ref>

On August 2, 2009, Baez played at the 50th [[Newport Folk Festival]], which also marked the 50th anniversary of her breakthrough performance at the first festival.<ref>WFUV (August 2, 2009). [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111395125 Joan Baez: Newport Folk Festival 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227171638/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111395125 |date=December 27, 2013 }}.(MP3) ''npr.org''; NPR&nbsp;– Music. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref> On October 14, 2009, PBS aired an episode of its documentary series ''[[American Masters]]'', entitled ''Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound''. It was produced and directed by Mary Wharton. A DVD and CD of the soundtrack were released at the same time.<ref name="American Masters" /><!--Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound</ref>-->

===2010s and 2020s===
[[File:Joan Baez performs We Shall Overcome Feb 09 2010.webm|thumb|Baez sings "We Shall Overcome" at the [[White House]], 2010]]
On April 4, 2017, Baez released on her Facebook page her first new song in 27 years, "Nasty Man", a protest song against US President [[Donald Trump]], which became a viral hit.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/joan-baez-donald-trump-song_us_58e73645e4b00de141020429|title=Joan Baez Tears Into 'Future Dictator' Donald Trump In New 'Nasty Man' Song|work=[[HuffPost]]|date=April 7, 2017|first=Lee|last=Moran|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=September 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911191234/https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/joan-baez-donald-trump-song_us_58e73645e4b00de141020429|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/joan-baez-virgin-mary-outrageous-flirt/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/joan-baez-virgin-mary-outrageous-flirt/ |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Joan Baez: 'I'm the Virgin Mary ... and an outrageous flirt'|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=March 4, 2018|first=Helen|last=Brown|access-date=February 4, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On April 7, 2017, she was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/04/08/pearl-jam-tupac-journey-and-joan-baez-inducted-into-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame|title=Pearl Jam, Tupac, Journey and Joan Baez inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 8, 2017|first=Ellen|last=McCarthy|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=May 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526112832/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/04/08/pearl-jam-tupac-journey-and-joan-baez-inducted-into-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame/|url-status=live}}</ref> On March 2, 2018, she released a new studio album entitled ''[[Whistle Down the Wind (album)|Whistle Down the Wind]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/whistle-down-the-wind-mw0003141770|title=Whistle Down the Wind – Joan Baez|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=May 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526042523/https://www.allmusic.com/album/whistle-down-the-wind-mw0003141770|url-status=live}}</ref> which charted in many countries and was nominated for a Grammy, and undertook her "Fare Thee Well Tour" to support the album.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/02/joan-baez-announces-final-north-american-tour.html|title=Joan Baez Announces Final Career Tour Dates|work=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]|date=February 26, 2018|first=Matthew|last=Oshinsky|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=May 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525204727/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/02/joan-baez-announces-final-north-american-tour.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> On April 30, 2019, Baez told ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' that she had been approached to perform at the [[Woodstock 50]] festival, but had turned the offer down for "it was too complicated to even get involved in" and her "instincts" were telling her "no".<ref name="Rolling Stone">{{cite magazine |last1=Greene |first1=Andy |title=Joan Baez Reflects on the End of Her Farewell Tour and What's Next |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/joan-baez-interview-farewell-tour-rolling-thunder-trump-828142/ |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=April 30, 2019 |access-date=May 1, 2019 |archive-date=May 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501053330/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/joan-baez-interview-farewell-tour-rolling-thunder-trump-828142/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  She retired from touring in 2019 because, she explained, her vocal cords could no longer consistently perform at the level she demanded of herself.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joan Baez On Her Farewell Tour And Grappling With A Voice That's 'Harder To Control' |url=https://wamu.org/story/18/09/10/joan-baez-begins-her-long-goodbye/ |website=WAMU |access-date=21 June 2025}}</ref>  However, she still performs at occasional special events.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Caroline |title=Joan Baez, and Many Friends, Show Her Enduring Resonance at Tribute Concert |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/13971571/joan-baez-review-masonic-san-francisco-sweet-relief |website=WQED |date=February 9, 2025 |access-date=21 June 2025}}</ref>

On July 28, 2019, following dates across Europe, Baez performed her final concert at Madrid's Teatro Real.<ref name="Rolling Stone"/> In January 2021, it was announced that Baez would receive a 2020 [[Kennedy Center Honors|Kennedy Center Honor]] in a ceremony that was postponed because of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/joan-baez-to-receive-kennedy-center-honor/|title=Joan Baez to Receive Kennedy Center Honor|date=January 13, 2021|work=Pitchfork|first=Madison|last=Bloom|access-date=January 15, 2021|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114055602/https://pitchfork.com/news/joan-baez-to-receive-kennedy-center-honor/|url-status=live}}</ref> She was honored along with Debbie Allen, Garth Brooks, Midori, and Dick Van Dyke in May 2021.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/43rd-annual-kennedy-center-honors/2021/05/22/7259ab90-baff-11eb-96b9-e949d5397de9_story.html|title=Emerging from a long pause, the return of the Kennedy Center Honors is a breath of fresh air|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 22, 2021|access-date=March 8, 2023|author=Peggy McGlone|archive-date=February 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225110214/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/43rd-annual-kennedy-center-honors/2021/05/22/7259ab90-baff-11eb-96b9-e949d5397de9_story.html|url-status=live}} (subscription required)</ref>

==Social and political involvement==
[[File:Joan baez01.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Baez in 2003]]

===Civil rights===
In 1956, Baez first heard [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] speak about nonviolence, civil rights and [[social change]] in a speech that brought tears to her eyes.<ref name="American Masters" /> Several years later, the two became friends,<ref name="American Masters" /> with Baez participating in many of the [[Civil Rights Movement]] demonstrations that King helped organize. When she was a senior in high school, Baez met anti-war activist [[Ira Sandperl]] and through their interests in various philosophies and political causes they developed a friendship. In 1965 they founded together the Institute for the Study of Non-violence in [[Carmel Valley Village, California|Carmel Valley, California]] with Sandperl running the general operations and funding coming from Baez.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irasandperl.org/wordpress/?page_id=19|title=Friends of Ira Sandperl » Obituary|access-date=October 13, 2019|archive-date=October 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019104927/http://www.irasandperl.org/wordpress/?page_id=19|url-status=live}}</ref>

The early years of Baez's career saw the [[Civil Rights Movement]] in the U.S. become a prominent issue. Her performance of "[[We Shall Overcome]]", the civil rights anthem written by [[Pete Seeger]] and [[Guy Carawan]], at the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] permanently linked her to the song.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/we-shall-overcome-the-theme-song-of-civil-rights-12766/|title='We Shall Overcome': The Theme Song of Civil Rights|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=January 13, 2012|accessdate=February 5, 2022|archive-date=February 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205102630/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/we-shall-overcome-the-theme-song-of-civil-rights-12766/|url-status=live}}</ref> Baez again sang "We Shall Overcome" in [[Sproul Plaza]] during the mid-1960s [[Free Speech Movement]] demonstrations at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in [[Berkeley, California]], and at many other rallies and protests.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Andrew|last=Marantz|url=https://www.alaska.edu/freespeech/How-Social-Media-Trolls-Turned-U.C.-Berkeley-Into-a-Free-Speech-Circus-_-The-New-Yorker.pdf|title=How Social-Media Trolls Turned U.C. Berkeley Into a Free Speech Circus|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=July 2, 2018|accessdate=February 5, 2022|archive-date=February 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205102631/https://www.alaska.edu/freespeech/How-Social-Media-Trolls-Turned-U.C.-Berkeley-Into-a-Free-Speech-Circus-_-The-New-Yorker.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Baez refused to play at any colleges or universities that participated in [[racial segregation]] as well.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heinrichs |first=Audra |date= |title=This Joan Baez Interview Is Required Reading Right Now |url=https://www.jezebel.com/joan-baez-interview-rolling-stone |access-date=2025-11-09 |website=Jezebel |language=en-US}}</ref>

Her recording of the song "[[Birmingham Sunday]]" (1964), written by her brother-in-law, Richard Fariña, was used in the opening of ''[[4 Little Girls]]'' (1997), [[Spike Lee]]'s documentary film about the four young victims killed in the 1963 [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing]]. In 1965, Baez announced that she would be opening a school to teach nonviolent protest.<ref>{{cite book|last=Swanekamp|first=Joan|title=Diamonds & Rust: a Bibliography and Discography on Joan Baez|year=1980|publisher=The Pierian Press|isbn=978-0-87650-113-9|page=9}}</ref> She also participated in the 1965 [[Selma to Montgomery marches]] for voting rights.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2014/dec/17/1965-selma-montgomery-march-stephen-somerstein | title=Freedom Journey 1965: Selma to Montgomery March in pictures | work=The Guardian | date=December 17, 2014| access-date=December 20, 2014| archive-date=December 10, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210021100/https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2014/dec/17/1965-selma-montgomery-march-stephen-somerstein| url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 2017, as part of a release of documents from the National Archives that were supposed to relate to the [[JFK assassination|assassination]] of [[John F. Kennedy]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Harrell |first=Donovan |date=November 3, 2017 |title=JFK files: FBI documents allege Martin Luther King Jr. had secret lovechild |url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article182651026.html#storylink=cpy |work=Sacramento Bee |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903142213/https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article182651026.html#storylink=cpy |url-status=live }}</ref> a 1968 [[FBI]] report alleged that Baez was involved in the 1960s in an intimate affair with King, an accusation described by history professor Clayborne Carson, the director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, as "part of a [[smear campaign]]" against King.<ref>{{cite news |last=Porter |first=Tom |date=November 4, 2017 |title=JFK File: FBI Monitored Martin Luther King's 'Abnormal' Sex Life of Orgies, Hookers and Joan Baez |url=http://www.newsweek.com/declassified-jfk-file-details-fbi-sex-smears-about-martin-luther-king-701996 |work=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=January 8, 2018 |archive-date=August 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827085908/https://www.newsweek.com/declassified-jfk-file-details-fbi-sex-smears-about-martin-luther-king-701996 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{quote box | quote=I went to jail for 11 days for disturbing the peace; I was trying to disturb the war.|source= —Joan Baez, 1967 [[Pop Chronicles]] interview.<ref name=pc19>{{cite journal |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19769/m1/ |title=Show 19 – Blowin' in the Wind: Pop discovers folk music. [Part 2&#93; : UNT Digital Library |journal=UNT Digital Library |publisher=Digital.library.unt.edu |access-date=November 12, 2011 |archive-date=November 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118165901/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19769/m1/ |url-status=live |last1=John |first1=Gilliland }}</ref>}}

===Vietnam War===
Highly visible in civil-rights marches, Baez became more vocal about her disagreement with the [[Vietnam War]]. In 1964, she publicly endorsed [[tax resistance|resisting taxes]] by withholding sixty percent of her 1963 income taxes. In 1964, she founded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence<ref>{{cite web |title=Institute for the Study of Nonviolence Collected Records |url=https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/scpc-cdg-a-institute_for_the_study_of_nonviolence |website=Tricollege Libraries, Archives and Manuscripts |access-date=October 14, 2023}}</ref> (along with her mentor Sandperl) and encouraged draft resistance at her concerts. The Institute for the Study of Nonviolence would later branch into the Resource Center for Nonviolence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.joanbaez.com/links.html |title=The Joan Baez Web Pages |publisher=Joanbaez.com |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316164626/http://www.joanbaez.com/links.html |archive-date=March 16, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1966, Baez's autobiography, ''Daybreak'', was released. It is the most detailed report of her life through 1966 and outlined her anti-war position, dedicating the book to men facing imprisonment for resisting the draft.<ref>{{cite book|last=Swanekamp|first=Joan|title=Diamonds & Rust: a Bibliography and Discography on Joan Baez|year=1980|publisher=The Pierian Press|isbn=978-0-87650-113-9|pages=9–10}}</ref> Baez was arrested twice in 1967,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/16/newsid_2535000/2535301.stm | work=BBC News | title=1967: Joan Baez arrested in Vietnam protest | date=October 16, 1967 | access-date=May 6, 2010 | archive-date=June 11, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611044928/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/16/newsid_2535000/2535301.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> having blocked the entrance of the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California, and spent over a month in jail.<!-- See also [[Joan Baez#David Harris|David Harris]] section below. --> She was a frequent participant in anti-war marches and rallies, including:
* Numerous protests in New York City organized by the [[Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee]], starting with the March 1966 Fifth Avenue Peace Parade;<ref>{{cite news |title=Antiwar Protests Staged in U.S.; 15 Burn Discharge Papers Here; Hundreds Cheer at Union Square Rally Arrests Made Across the Country 5th Avenue Parade Set Today |author=Robinson, Douglas |work=The New York Times |format=$ |date=March 26, 1966 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/26/archives/antiwar-protests-staged-in-us-15-burn-discharge-papers-here.html |access-date=February 3, 2008 |archive-date=March 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301050000/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/26/archives/antiwar-protests-staged-in-us-15-burn-discharge-papers-here.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* A conversation with husband [[David Harris (protester)|David Harris]] at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] in 1968 discussing the resistance to the draft during the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt3t1nc5mg/|title=UCLA Students. Student Activism materials. 1927–2014.|website=oac.cdlib.org|access-date=March 4, 2020|archive-date=March 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304001050/https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt3t1nc5mg/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* A free 1967 concert at the [[Washington Monument]] in Washington, D.C., that had been opposed by the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] which attracted a crowd of 30,000 to hear her anti-war message;<ref>{{cite news |title=30,000 in Capital at Free Concert by Joan Baez; Folk Singer Chides D.A.R., Which Protested U.S. Site |author=B. Drummond Ayres Jr. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/15/archives/30000-in-capital-at-free-concert-by-joan-baez-folk-singer-chides.html |format=$ |date=August 15, 1967 |access-date=February 3, 2008 |archive-date=March 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301050052/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/15/archives/30000-in-capital-at-free-concert-by-joan-baez-folk-singer-chides.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The 1969 [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam]] protests.

There were many others, culminating in Phil Ochs's [[The War Is Over (Phil Ochs song)|The War Is Over]] celebration in New York City in May 1975.<ref>{{cite news |title=End-of-War Rally Brings Out 50,000; Peace Rally Here Brings Out 50,000 |author1=Montgomery, Paul L. |work=The New York Times |date=May 12, 1975 |author-link= Paul L. Montgomery}}</ref> During the Christmas season 1972, Baez joined a peace delegation traveling to North Vietnam, both to address human rights in the region, and to deliver Christmas mail to American [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]. During her time there, she was caught in the U.S. military's "[[Operation Linebacker II|Christmas bombing]]" of Hanoi, North Vietnam, during which the city was bombed for eleven straight days.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwenkel |first1=Christina |title=Building Socialism The Afterlife of East German Architecture in Urban Vietnam |date=2020 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-1-4780-1106-4 |page=45}}</ref> She was critical of Vietnam's government and organized the May 30, 1979, publication of a full-page advertisement (published in four major U.S. newspapers)<ref>{{cite news |title=Joan Baez starts protest on repression by Hanoi |work=The New York Times |date=May 30, 1979 |page=A14}}</ref> in which the government was described as having created a nightmare. Her one-time anti-war ally [[Jane Fonda]] refused to join in Baez's criticism of the Vietnamese government,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/01/archives/peace-activists-attack-vietnam-on-rights-a-painful-nightmare-heard.html|title=Peace Activists Attack Vietnam on Rights|date=June 1, 1979|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 1, 2017|archive-date=September 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904062438/http://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/01/archives/peace-activists-attack-vietnam-on-rights-a-painful-nightmare-heard.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://historynewsnetwork.org/blog/11490|title=Joan Baez v. Jane Fonda|website=Historynewsnetwork.org|date=April 22, 2005 |access-date=August 27, 2017|archive-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828102300/http://historynewsnetwork.org/blog/11490|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/joan-baez-and-jane-fonda|title=Joan Baez and Jane Fonda|work=Dissent|first=David|last=Bromwich|access-date=August 27, 2017|archive-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828062719/https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/joan-baez-and-jane-fonda|url-status=live}}</ref> leading to what was publicly described as a feud between the two.

===Prison and death penalty reform===
In December 2005, Baez appeared and sang "[[Swing Low, Sweet Chariot]]" at the California protest at the [[San Quentin State Prison]] against the execution of [[Tookie Williams]].<ref>Jenifer Warren, Jenifer and Dolan, Maura (December 13, 2005). [https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-execution13dec13-story.html Tookie Williams is executed] . ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref><ref>Felix (December 13, 2005). [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/12/13/17899151.php Thousand Protest Execution of Stan Tookie Williams] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312213741/http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/12/13/17899151.php |date=March 12, 2007 }} (photo).  ''Indybay.org''. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref> She had previously performed the same song at San Quentin at the 1992 vigil protesting against the [[execution of Robert Alton Harris]], the first man to be executed in California after the death penalty was reinstated. She subsequently lent her prestige to the campaign opposing the execution of [[Troy Davis]] by the State of Georgia.<ref>{{citation|publisher=Amnesty International |quote="Dear (Recipients) Any day now, an execution date could be set for Troy Davis. On March 28, 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Troy Davis' appeals, setting the stage for Georgia to try to execute him again. Thousands of you have once again rallied to ward off the unthinkable. Music artists such as R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, the Indigo Girls, and rapper Big Boi (all Georgians), as well as Steve Earle, Joan Baez, State Radio and actor Tim Roth have joined us by signing the petition ..."|author= Laura Moye – Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign |title=Open letter of May 4, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.amnestyusa.org/amnesty/joan-baez-amnesty-and-you/ |title=Joan Baez, Amnesty and You &#124; Human Rights Now |publisher=Amnesty International USA Blog |date=September 8, 2011 |access-date=November 12, 2011 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927014647/http://blog.amnestyusa.org/amnesty/joan-baez-amnesty-and-you/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2016, Baez advocated for the [[Innocence Project]] and [[Innocence Network]]. At each concert, Baez informs the audience about the organizations' efforts to exonerate the wrongfully convicted and reform the system to prevent such incidents.<ref name=":0" />

=== LGBT rights ===
Baez has been prominent in the struggle for [[LGBT rights|gay and lesbian rights]]. In 1978, she performed at several benefit concerts to defeat the [[Briggs Initiative]], which proposed banning openly gay people from teaching in public schools in California.<ref>{{cite web|first=Ariel|last=Min|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/joan-baez-75th-birthday-celebration-8-things-you-didnt-know-about-joan-baez/4904/|title=8 Things You Didn't Know About Joan Baez|website=[[PBS]].org|date=April 29, 2016|access-date=February 5, 2022|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130211844/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/joan-baez-75th-birthday-celebration-8-things-you-didnt-know-about-joan-baez/4904/|url-status=live}}</ref> Later that same year, she participated in memorial marches for the assassinated San Francisco city supervisor, [[Harvey Milk]], who was openly gay.<ref>{{cite news|first=Cynthia|last=Gorney|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/29/this-is-a-city-trying-to-climb-out-of-a-nightmare/14611505-503c-4413-a3da-4b01bc655acc/|title=This Is a City Trying to Climb Out of a Nightmare|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=November 29, 1978|access-date=February 5, 2022|archive-date=March 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307144347/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/29/this-is-a-city-trying-to-climb-out-of-a-nightmare/14611505-503c-4413-a3da-4b01bc655acc/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1990s, she appeared with her friend [[Janis Ian]] at a benefit for the [[National Gay and Lesbian Task Force]], a gay lobbying organization, and performed at the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March.<ref>{{cite web|first=Stephen|last=Rutledge|url=https://worldofwonder.net/queerquote-i-went-to-jail-for-11-days-for-disturbing-the-peace-i-was-trying-to-disturb-the-war-joan-baez/|title=#QueerQuote: "I Went to Jail for 11 Days for Disturbing the Peace; I Was Trying to Disturb the War." – Joan Baez|website=worldofwonder.net|date=January 9, 2022|accessdate=February 5, 2022|archive-date=February 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205101537/https://worldofwonder.net/queerquote-i-went-to-jail-for-11-days-for-disturbing-the-peace-i-was-trying-to-disturb-the-war-joan-baez/|url-status=live}}</ref> Her song "Altar Boy and the Thief" from ''[[Blowin' Away]]'' (1977) was written as a dedication to her gay fanbase.<ref>{{cite web|title=Blowin' Away|url=http://www.last.fm/music/Joan+Baez/Blowin%27+Away|access-date=October 17, 2013|archive-date=September 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904052142/http://www.last.fm/music/Joan+Baez/Blowin%27+Away|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Iran ===
On June 25, 2009, Baez created a special version of "We Shall Overcome",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3jWw-wGoaw | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/J3jWw-wGoaw| archive-date=October 30, 2021|title=Joan Baez 'We Shall Overcome' 2009 For Iran |via=YouTube |date= July 2, 2009 |access-date= August 25, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> with a few lines of [[Persian language|Persian]] lyrics in support of peaceful protests by Iranian people. She recorded it in her home and posted the video on her personal website and on YouTube.<ref>Baez, Joan (June 25, 2009). {{YouTube|kVCqPAzI-JY|Joan Baez "We Shall Overcome" (2009)}}; Google Inc. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref> She dedicated the song "[[Joe Hill (song)|Joe Hill]]" to the people of Iran during her concert at [[Merrill Auditorium]] in [[Portland, Maine]] on July 31, 2009.

===Environmental causes===
On Earth Day 1999<!-- per the citation-->, Baez and [[Bonnie Raitt]] honored environmental activist [[Julia Butterfly Hill]] with Raitt's ''Arthur M. Sohcot Award'' in person on her {{convert|180|ft|m|adj=on}}-high redwood treetop platform, where Hill had camped to protect ancient redwoods in the [[Headwaters Forest]] from logging.<ref>Rising Ground, Michael. (1999). [http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/julie2.htm "Bonnie Raitt and Joan Baez Tree-sit in protest"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710170006/http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/julie2.htm |date=July 10, 2011 }}. ''EcoMall''; Ecology America. Retrieved June 18, 2010.</ref>

===War in Iraq===
In early 2003, Baez performed at two rallies of hundreds of thousands of people in San Francisco protesting the [[U.S. invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Simon|first=Mark|date=February 20, 2003|title=Joan Baez's long march to peace / '60s icon again takes on an activist role as she joins S.F. throng in bid to stop war|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Joan-Baez-s-long-march-to-peace-60s-icon-again-2632600.php|access-date=November 2, 2021}}</ref> In August 2003, she was invited by [[Emmylou Harris]] and [[Steve Earle]] to join them in London, England, at the Concert For a Landmine-Free World.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/concert-landmine-free-world-2463637|title=Concert for a Landmine Free World|newspaper=[[The Scotsman]]|date=August 11, 2003|accessdate=February 5, 2022}}</ref> In the summer of 2004, Baez joined [[Michael Moore]]'s "Slacker uprising Tour" on American college campuses, encouraging young people to get out and vote for peace candidates in the [[U.S. presidential election, 2004|upcoming presidential election]].<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Lewis|last=Wallace|url=https://www.wired.com/2008/09/michael-moore-t/|title=Michael Moore to Release Slacker Uprising for Free Online|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|date=September 4, 2008|accessdate=February 5, 2022|archive-date=January 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126214824/https://www.wired.com/2008/09/michael-moore-t/|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2005, Baez appeared at an [[anti-war]] protest in [[Crawford, Texas]], which had been started by [[Cindy Sheehan]].<ref>{{cite news|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=August 18, 2005|title=Joan Baez performs at Crawford anti-war vigil|publisher=[[NBC News]]|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9001021|access-date=November 2, 2021|archive-date=November 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102184621/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9001021|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Tree sit-in for urban farmers ===
On May 23, 2006, Baez once again joined [[Julia Butterfly Hill]], this time in a "tree sit" in a giant tree on the site of the [[South Central Farm]] in a poor neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, California. Baez and Hill were hoisted into the tree, where they remained overnight. The women, in addition to many other activists and celebrities, were protesting the imminent eviction of the community farmers and demolition of the site, which is the largest urban farm in the state. Because many of the South Central Farmers are immigrants from Central America, Baez sang several songs from her 1974 Spanish-language album, ''Gracias a la Vida'', including the title track and "No Nos Moverán" ("[[We Shall Not Be Moved]]").<ref>{{cite news|first=Andrew|last=Buncombe|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/a-new-protest-song-joan-baez-she-shall-overcome-479772.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220609/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/a-new-protest-song-joan-baez-she-shall-overcome-479772.html |archive-date=June 9, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=A new protest song: Joan Baez – she shall overcome|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=May 26, 2006|access-date=February 5, 2022}}</ref>

===2008 presidential election===
Throughout most of her career, Baez remained apprehensive about involving herself in [[party politics]]. However, on February 3, 2008, Baez wrote a letter to the editor at the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' endorsing [[Barack Obama]] in the [[2008 U.S. presidential election]]. She noted: "Through all those years, I chose not to engage in party politics.&nbsp;... At this time, however, changing that posture feels like the responsible thing to do. If anyone can navigate the contaminated waters of Washington, lift up the poor, and appeal to the rich to share their wealth, it is Sen. Barack Obama."<ref>{{cite news |first=Joan |last=Baez|title=Leader on a new journey (Letter to the editor)|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/ED50UO8QM.DTL|work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=February 3, 2008 |access-date=February 3, 2008 }}</ref> Playing at the Glastonbury Festival in June, Baez said during the introduction of a song that one reason she liked Obama was because he reminded her of another old friend of hers, [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Mills |first=Paul |title=Joan Baez |publisher=[[Glastonbury Festival]] |year=2008 |url=http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/glastonline2008.aspx?id=3443 |access-date=July 27, 2008 |archive-date=December 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206134109/http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/glastonline2008.aspx?id=3443 |url-status=dead}}</ref><!-- CONTENT GONE -->

Although a highly political figure throughout most of her career, Baez had never publicly endorsed a major political party candidate prior to Obama. However, after Obama was elected, she expressed that she would likely never do so again, saying in a 2013 interview in ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' that "In some ways I'm disappointed, but in some ways it was silly to expect more. If he had taken his brilliance, his eloquence, his toughness and not run for office he could have led a movement. Once he got in the Oval Office he couldn't do anything."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/joan-baez-obama_n_3051163.html |title=Joan Baez on Obama |last1=Brummitt |first1=Chris |date=April 10, 2013 |website=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=September 28, 2015 |archive-date=September 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929112547/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/joan-baez-obama_n_3051163.html |url-status=live }}</ref> She performed at the White House on February 10, 2010, as part of an evening celebrating the music associated with the civil rights movement, performing "[[We Shall Overcome]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/photos-and-video/video/joan-baez-performs-white-house?category=93 |title=The White House |access-date=November 3, 2011 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]]  |archive-date=April 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415004627/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/photos-and-video/video/joan-baez-performs-white-house?category=93 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Occupy Wall Street ===
On November 11, 2011, Baez played as part of a musical concert for the protestors at [[Occupy Wall Street]].<ref>{{cite news |date=December 14, 2009 |title=Folk music legend Joan Baez to perform at Occupy Wall Street rally |newspaper=Daily News|location=New York |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/folk-music-legend-joan-baez-perform-occupy-wall-street-rally-article-1.975888?localLinksEnabled=false |access-date=November 12, 2011 |archive-date=October 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028191909/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/folk-music-legend-joan-baez-perform-occupy-wall-street-rally-article-1.975888?localLinksEnabled=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Her three-song set included "[[Joe Hill (song)|Joe Hill]]", a cover of the [[Rolling Stones]]' [[Salt of the Earth (song)|"Salt of the Earth"]] and her own composition "Where's My Apple Pie?"<ref>{{cite news |last=Moynihan |first=Colin |date=November 11, 2011 |title=For Joan Baez, Another Protest |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/for-joan-baez-another-protest/ |accessdate=February 5, 2022 |archive-date=April 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409023426/https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/for-joan-baez-another-protest/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Catalan independence movement===
Baez has been a strong defender of the [[Catalan independence movement]]. On July 21, 2019, she described jailed Catalan independence leaders as political prisoners.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 21, 2019 |title=Joan Báez: 'Sigo pensando que en España hay presos políticos' |language=es |newspaper=La Vanguardia |url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20190721/463624799708/joan-baez-espana-presos-politicos.html |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721091619/https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20190721/463624799708/joan-baez-espana-presos-politicos.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Five days later, she visited former [[Parliament of Catalonia]] president [[Carme Forcadell]] in prison.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 26, 2019 |title=Joan Baez visita en la cárcel a Forcadell |language=es |newspaper=El Periódico |url=https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20190726/joan-baez-visita-en-la-carcel-a-forcadell-7570977 |access-date=July 26, 2019 |archive-date=July 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726150011/https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20190726/joan-baez-visita-en-la-carcel-a-forcadell-7570977 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=July 26, 2019 |title=Joan Baez visita a Forcadell en la cárcel y expresa su apoyo al independentismo |language=es |newspaper=La Vanguardia |url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20190726/463703768827/joan-baez-visita-forcadell-carcel-apoyo-independentismo.html |access-date=July 26, 2019 |archive-date=July 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726183017/https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20190726/463703768827/joan-baez-visita-forcadell-carcel-apoyo-independentismo.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Current Activism and Public Engagement ===
In 2025, Baez was a musical guest at the [[Fighting Oligarchy Tour]]. The tour was hosted by [[Bernie Sanders]] and joined by [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]] in order to discuss [[corporate interests]] and [[Oligarchy|Oligarchs]]' influence in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fowler |first=Stephen |date=2025-03-22 |title=Bernie Sanders is drawing record crowds as he pushes Democrats to 'fight oligarchy' |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/22/nx-s1-5334488/bernie-sanders-fight-oligarchy-tour-trump-musk-doge-democrats |access-date=2025-11-09 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> Baez performed in the Los Angeles stop of the tour as a musical guest alongside [[Neil Young]] on April 12, 2025 with 36,000 people in attendance.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Neil Young, Joan Baez To Join Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez At 'Fighting Oligarchy' Rally |url=https://www.rttnews.com/3527167/neil-young-joan-baez-to-join-bernie-sanders-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-at-fighting-oligarchy-rally.aspx |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250508004253/https://www.rttnews.com/3527167/neil-young-joan-baez-to-join-bernie-sanders-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-at-fighting-oligarchy-rally.aspx |archive-date=2025-05-08 |access-date=2025-11-09 |work=RTTNews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=2025-04-13 |title=Watch Neil Young Play 'Rockin' in the Free World' With Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-rockin-in-the-free-world-joan-baez-maggie-rogers-1235316614/ |access-date=2025-11-09 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> 

On October 18, 2025, she made a surprise appearance and performed at the [[October 2025 No Kings protests]] during rally held in San Francisco.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sims |first=Megan |date=2025-10-20 |title=Folk icon does surprise performance at ‘No Kings’ protest |url=https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/10/folk-icon-does-surprise-performance-at-no-kings-protest.html |access-date=2025-11-09 |website=cleveland |language=en}}</ref>

== Awards ==
In 2003, Baez was presented with the [[John Steinbeck Award]] for her civil rights activism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joan Baez |url=https://www.steinbeckaward.com/awardees/joan-baez |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=The John Steinbeck Award |language=en-US |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127022145/https://www.steinbeckaward.com/awardees/joan-baez |url-status=live }}</ref> She was presented with a Lifetime 
Achievement Award at the 2007 Grammys.<ref>{{cite web |last=NME |date=February 11, 2007 |title=Doors pick up lifetime achievement Grammy |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-doors-28-1341994 |access-date=October 3, 2022 |website=NME |language=en-GB |archive-date=June 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629040120/https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-doors-28-1341994 |url-status=live }}</ref> To reward her decades of dedicated activism, Baez was honored with the Spirit of Americana/Free Speech award at the 2008 [[Americana Music Honors & Awards]]. On March 18, 2011, Baez was honored by [[Amnesty International]] at its 50th Anniversary Annual General Meeting in San Francisco. The tribute to Baez was the inaugural event for the Amnesty International Joan Baez Award for Outstanding Inspirational Service in the Global Fight for Human Rights. Baez was presented with the first award in recognition of her human rights work with Amnesty International and beyond, and the inspiration she has given activists around the world. The award is to be presented to an artist – music, film, sculpture, paint or other medium – who has helped advance human rights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20110309002&lang=e |title=Joan Baez Award of Amnesty International 2011 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] USA |date=March 9, 2011 |access-date=November 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314233347/http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20110309002&lang=e |archive-date=March 14, 2011 }}</ref>

In 2015, Amnesty International jointly awarded Baez and [[Ai Weiwei|Ai Wei Wei]] the Ambassador of Conscience award.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 22, 2015 |title=Joan Baez and Ai Weiwei honoured by Amnesty International |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/22/joan-baez-ai-weiwei-amnesty-international |access-date=October 3, 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=October 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005165925/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/22/joan-baez-ai-weiwei-amnesty-international |url-status=live }}</ref> The American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected her to fellowship in 2020, praising her contributions both to music and to activism.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joan Baez |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/joan-baez |access-date=January 8, 2021 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en |archive-date=November 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126181445/https://www.amacad.org/person/joan-baez |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2021, Baez was recognized as part of the 43rd [[Kennedy Center Honors]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Meet the 43rd Kennedy Center Honorees |url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/honors/2020-honorees/ |access-date=January 24, 2025 |archive-date=June 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628185930/https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/honors/2020-honorees/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked Baez at number 189 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=January 1, 2023|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/joan-baez-13-1234642337/|access-date=January 25, 2023}}</ref> In February 2024, she received the Third Class of the [[Order of the White Double Cross]] by [[Zuzana Čaputová]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://standard.sk/558825/prezidentka-caputova-udelila-americkej-spevacke-joan-baezovej-statne-vyznamenanie|title=Prezidentka Čaputová udelila americkej speváčke Joan Baezovej štátne vyznamenanie|website=Štandard|access-date=February 5, 2024|archive-date=February 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205070116/https://standard.sk/558825/prezidentka-caputova-udelila-americkej-spevacke-joan-baezovej-statne-vyznamenanie|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Relationships==
===Bob Dylan===
[[File:Joan Baez Bob Dylan.jpg|thumb | alt=Sitting very close, Baez singing, Dylan with guitar and harmonica | Baez with [[Bob Dylan]] at the civil rights [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|March on Washington]], 1963]]
Baez first met Dylan in April 1961 at [[Gerde's Folk City]] in New York City's [[Greenwich Village]]. Baez had already released her debut album and her popularity as the emerging "Queen of Folk" was on the rise. Baez was initially unimpressed with the "urban [[hillbilly]]", but she liked one of Dylan's first compositions, "[[Song to Woody]]" and remarked that she would like to record it. By 1963, Baez had released three albums, two of which had been certified gold, and she invited Dylan on stage to perform alongside her at the Newport Folk Festival. The two performed the Dylan composition "[[With God on Our Side (song)|With God on Our Side]]", a collaboration that set the stage for many more duets in the months and years to come. Typically, while on tour, Baez would invite Dylan to sing on stage partly by himself and partly with her, much to the chagrin of her fans.<ref name="American Masters" />

Before meeting Dylan, Baez's topical songs were few: "[[Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream]]", "We Shall Overcome", and an assortment of [[spirituals]]. Baez would later say that Dylan's songs seemed to update the topics of protest and justice. By the time of Dylan's 1965 tour of the UK, their relationship had slowly begun to deteriorate. The couple were captured in [[D. A. Pennebaker]]'s documentary film ''[[Dont Look Back]]''<!-- {{sic}} --> (1967). Baez later described it as an abrupt halt that broke her heart. In the 2023 documentary ''[[Joan Baez: I Am a Noise|I Am a Noise]]'' Baez referred to the relationship as "totally demoralizing" which she later forgave him for but said that they are no longer in touch with each other.<ref name="people2023"> ''How Joan Baez found peace'' by Ilana Kaplan  ''People'' magazine  October 16, 2023, p. 61 </ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/10/06/joan-baez-interview-i-am-a-noise-documentary-bob-dylan-family-secrets-musical-legacy/71075368007/ |title='Dylan broke my heart:' Joan Baez on how she finally shed 'resentment' of 1965 breakup |author=Marco della Cava |work=USA TODAY |date=October 6, 2023 |access-date=October 11, 2023}}</ref>

Baez toured with Dylan as a performer on his [[Rolling Thunder Revue]] in 1975–76. She sang four songs with Dylan on the live album of the tour, ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue]]'', released in 2002. Baez appeared with Dylan in the one-hour TV special ''Hard Rain'', filmed at [[Fort Collins]], [[Colorado]], in May 1976. Baez also starred as 'The Woman in White' in the film ''[[Renaldo and Clara]]'' (1978), directed by Bob Dylan and filmed during the Rolling Thunder Revue. They performed together at the Peace Sunday anti-nuke concert in 1982.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flashback-bob-dylan-and-joan-baez-cover-jimmy-buffet-in-1982-229823/|title=Flashback: Bob Dylan, Joan Baez Cover Jimmy Buffet[sic] in 1982|first1=Andy|last1=Greene|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=July 5, 2016|access-date=August 3, 2020|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727014838/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flashback-bob-dylan-and-joan-baez-cover-jimmy-buffet-in-1982-229823/|url-status=live}}</ref> Dylan and Baez toured together again in 1984 along with [[Carlos Santana]]. Baez discussed her relationship with Dylan in [[Martin Scorsese]]'s documentary film ''[[No Direction Home]]'' (2005), and in the PBS ''[[American Masters]]'' biography of Baez, ''How Sweet the Sound'' (2009).

Baez wrote and composed at least three songs that were specifically about Dylan. In "To Bobby", written in 1972, she urged Dylan to return to political activism, while in "[[Diamonds & Rust (song)|Diamonds & Rust]]", the title track from [[Diamonds & Rust|her 1975 album]], she revisited her feelings for him in warm, yet direct terms.<ref name="Gray">{{cite book |last=Gray |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Gray (author) |title=The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia |publisher=The Continuum International Publishing Group |location=London |year=2006 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bobdylanencyclop00gray/page/30 30–31] |isbn=978-0-8264-6933-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/bobdylanencyclop00gray/page/30}}</ref> "[[Winds of the Old Days (song)|Winds of the Old Days]]", also on the ''Diamonds & Rust'' album, is a bittersweet reminiscence about her time with "Bobby". The references to Baez in Dylan's songs are far less clear. Baez herself has suggested that she was the subject of both "[[Visions of Johanna]]" and "[[Mama, You Been on My Mind]]", although the latter was more likely about his relationship with [[Suze Rotolo]].<ref>Gray p 30</ref><ref name="Heylin">{{cite book |last=Heylin |first=Clinton |title=Behind the Shades Revisited |publisher=HarperEntertainment |location=London |year=2003 |pages=158–159 |isbn=978-0-06-052569-9}}</ref> Dylan's "[[To Ramona]]" is potentially also about Baez. In the liner notes of his 1985 compilation album ''[[Biograph (album)|Biograph]]'', Dylan stated that the song was "pretty literal. That was just somebody I knew";<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trager |first=Oliver |title=Keys to the rain: the definitive Bob Dylan encyclopedia |date=2004 |publisher=Billboard Books |isbn=978-0-8230-7974-2 |location=New York}}</ref> and in her 1987 biography ''And A Voice To Sing With,'' Baez wrote about how Dylan would call her "Ramona". Baez implied when speaking about the connection to "Diamonds and Rust" that "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is, at least in part, a metaphor for Dylan's view of his relationship with her. As for "[[Like A Rolling Stone]]", "Visions of Johanna", "[[She Belongs to Me]]", and other songs alleged to have been written about Baez, neither Dylan nor biographers such as [[Clinton Heylin]] and [[Michael Gray (author)|Michael Gray]] have had anything definitive to say either way regarding the subject of these songs.

Baez's relationship with Dylan was also referenced in the 2024 film ''[[A Complete Unknown]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lammers |first=Tim |title='A Complete Unknown': Joan Baez On Monica Barbaro's Portrayal Of Her |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/02/04/a-complete-unknown-joan-baez-on-monica-barbaros-portrayal-of-her/ |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

===David Harris===
In October 1967, Baez, her mother, and nearly 70 other women were arrested at the Oakland, California, Armed Forces Induction Center for blocking its doorways to prevent entrance by young inductees, and in support of young men who refused [[conscription|military induction]]. They were incarcerated in the [[Santa Rita Jail]], and it was here that Baez met [[David Harris (protestor)|David Harris]], who was kept on the men's side but who still managed to visit with Baez regularly. The two formed a close bond upon their release and Baez moved into his draft-resistance [[Commune (intentional community)|commune]] in the hills above [[Stanford, California]]. The pair had known each other for three months when they decided to marry. After confirming the news to Associated Press, media outlets began dedicating ample press to the impending nuptials (at one point, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine referred to the event as the "Wedding of the Century").<ref>{{Cite news |author=Brown, Mick |date=September 15, 2009 |title=Joan Baez: interview |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/6173753/Joan-Baez-interview.html |access-date=February 26, 2025 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |language=en |archive-date=December 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218013410/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/6173753/Joan-Baez-interview.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

After finding a [[pacifist]] preacher and a church outfitted with peace signs and writing a blend of [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopalian]] and [[Quaker wedding]] vows, Baez and Harris married in New York City on March 26, 1968. Her friend [[Judy Collins]] sang at the ceremony. After the wedding, Baez and Harris moved into a home in [[Los Altos Hills, California]] on {{convert|10|acre|hectare}} of land called Struggle Mountain, part of a commune, where they tended gardens.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Merrill |first=Allison McClain |date=June 7, 2023 |title=Inside one of the Bay Area's last 1960s-style communes |url=https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/inside-bay-area-commune-struggle-mountain-18121995.php |access-date=June 11, 2023 |website=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en-US |archive-date=June 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611165359/https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/inside-bay-area-commune-struggle-mountain-18121995.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

A short time later, Harris refused induction into the armed forces and was indicted. On July 16, 1969, Harris was taken by federal marshals to prison.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901123,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214140634/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901123,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 14, 2008 |title=People: July 25, 1969 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 25, 1969 |access-date=June 18, 2010}}</ref><!-- leaving Baez alone – not alone at all, on that commune, according to the article. --> Baez was visibly pregnant in public in the months that followed, especially at the [[Woodstock]] Festival, where she performed a handful of songs in the early morning. The documentary film ''Carry It On'' was produced during this period and was released in 1970.<ref>[http://www.newfilmco.com/CIOpage.htm "Carry It On"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428100103/http://www.newfilmco.com/CIOpage.htm |date=April 28, 2009 }}. Directed by Chris Knight. The New Film Co., 1970.  Official website.</ref> The film's behind-the-scenes looks at Harris's views and arrest and Baez on her subsequent performance tour was positively reviewed in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine and ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news |author=J. C. |title=Cinema: Something More Than Love |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=August 24, 1970 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902681,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309115201/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902681,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 9, 2010 |access-date=June 18, 2010}}</ref><ref>Wilson, John S. (August 27, 1970). [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E1DD1E3EE034BC4F51DFBE66838B669EDE "Joan Baez and Her Challenge:'Carry It On' Follows Singer and Husband"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104180923/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E1DD1E3EE034BC4F51DFBE66838B669EDE |date=November 4, 2013 }}. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved June 19, 2010.</ref>

Among the songs Baez wrote about this period of her life are "A Song for David", "Myths", "Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose)" and "Fifteen Months" (the amount of time Harris was imprisoned). Their son Gabriel was born on December 2, 1969. Harris was released from Texas prison after 15 months, but they separated three months after his release and the couple divorced amicably in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/joan-baez-how-sweet-the-sound/1185/ |title=How Sweet The Sound: Joan Baez |website=[[PBS]] |date=September 24, 2009 |access-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-date=September 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912132510/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/joan-baez/how-sweet-the-sound/1185/ |url-status=live }}</ref> They shared custody of Gabriel, who lived primarily with Baez.<ref>{{cite news |title=Joan Baez Sues for a Divorce |author=James F. Clarity |work=The New York Times |date=March 27, 1973 |page=43 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/27/archives/joan-baez-sues-for-a-divorce-notes-on-people.html?sq=Joan%2520Baez%2520Sues%2520for%2520a%2520Divorce&scp=1&st=cse |access-date=February 3, 2008 |archive-date=July 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722221338/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/27/archives/joan-baez-sues-for-a-divorce-notes-on-people.html?sq=Joan%2520Baez%2520Sues%2520for%2520a%2520Divorce&scp=1&st=cse |url-status=live }}</ref> Explaining the split, Baez wrote in her autobiography: "I am made to live alone."<ref name="AVoice">{{cite book |last=Baez |first=Joan |year=1987 |title=And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir |location= New York |publisher=Summit Books |page=160 |isbn=978-0-671-40062-0}}</ref> Baez and Harris remained on friendly terms throughout the years; they reunited on-camera for the 2009 ''American Masters'' documentary for the USA's PBS. Their son Gabriel is a drummer and occasionally tours with his mother. He has a daughter Jasmine who also sang with Joan Baez at Kidztock in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.de/2010/06/joan-baez-sings-with-her-granddaughter.html |title=Every Day Is a Miracle: Joan Baez sings with her granddaughter |publisher=Marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.de |date=June 21, 2010 |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904052142/http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.de/2010/06/joan-baez-sings-with-her-granddaughter.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20100526/baez-headlines-school-fundraiser-one-of-many-festivals-fairs-this-summer |title=Baez headlines school fundraiser – one of many festivals, fairs this summer |publisher=Marinij.com |date=May 26, 2010 |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904052142/http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20100526/baez-headlines-school-fundraiser-one-of-many-festivals-fairs-this-summer |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Steve Jobs===
Baez dated [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]] cofounder [[Steve Jobs]] during the early 1980s.<ref>Manock, Jerry (June 1982). [http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Invasion_of_Texaco_Towers.txt "Invasion of Texaco Towers"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110224/http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Invasion_of_Texaco_Towers.txt |date=March 4, 2016 }}. Folklore.org. "One afternoon, when the project was in its advanced stages, Steve burst through the door, unannounced, in an exuberant mood. He had two guests ... Joan Baez and her sister, Mimi Farina."</ref> A number of sources have stated that Jobs—then in his mid-twenties—had considered asking Baez to marry him, except that her age at the time (early 40s) made the possibility of their having children unlikely.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Jeffrey S. |last2=Simon |first2=William L. |year=2005 |title=
iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-72083-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/iconstevejobsgre00jeff}}{{page needed|date=May 2021}}</ref> Baez mentioned Jobs in the acknowledgments in her 1987 memoir ''And a Voice to Sing With'' and performed at the memorial for him in 2011. After Jobs's death, Baez spoke fondly about him, stating that even after the relationship had ended, the two remained friends, with Jobs having visited Baez a few months before he died. Baez remarked that "Steve had a very sweet side, even if he was as... erratic as he was famous for being. But he gets genius license for that, because he was somebody who changed the world."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news/joan-baez-pays-tribute-to-generous-steve-jobs_1281311|title=Joan Baez Pays Tribute To Generous Steve Jobs|website=Contactmusic.com|date=January 6, 2012|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-date=September 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914040534/http://www.contactmusic.com/news/joan-baez-pays-tribute-to-generous-steve-jobs_1281311|url-status=live}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
* Cartoonist [[Al Capp]], creator of the [[comic strip]] ''[[Li'l Abner]]'', satirized Baez as "Joanie Phoanie" during the 1960s. Capp's satirized Joanie was an unabashed communist radical who sang songs of [[class conflict|class warfare]] while [[hypocrisy|hypocritically]] traveling in a [[limousine]] and charging outrageous performance fees to impoverished orphans.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930200736/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,843312,00.html "Comics: Which One Is the Phoanie?"]  ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine. January 20, 1967. Retrieved June 18, 2010.</ref> Capp had this character singing songs such as "A Tale of Bagels and Bacon" and "Molotov Cocktails for Two". Although Baez was upset by the parody in 1966, she admits to being more amused in recent years. "I wish I could have laughed at this at the time", she wrote in a caption under one of the strips, reprinted in her autobiography. "Mr. Capp confused me considerably. I'm sorry he's not alive to read this, it would make him chuckle."<ref>UPI (January 11, 1967). [http://www.upi.com/topic/Al_Capp/ "Al Capp denies his character "Joanie Phoanie" looks like Joan Baez] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222075537/http://www.upi.com/topic/Al_Capp/ |date=February 22, 2011 }}. [[United Press International]]. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref> Capp stated at the time: "Joanie Phoanie is a repulsive, egomaniacal, un-American, non-taxpaying horror, I see no resemblance to Joan Baez whatsoever, but if Miss Baez wants to prove it, let her."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dM_enWzoghoC&q=%22if+Miss+Baez+wants+to+prove+it%22&pg=PA212 |title=Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America |first=Rick |last=Perlstein |page=212 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2010 |access-date=November 3, 2013|isbn=9781451606263}} Via Google Books.</ref>
* Baez's serious persona was parodied several times on the American variety show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in impersonations by [[Nora Dunn]], notably in the 1986 mock game show ''Make Joan Baez Laugh''.<ref name="badass"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.salon.com/2015/04/07/nora_dunn_snl_is_a_traumatic_experience_it%E2%80%99s_something_you_have_to_survive/|title=Nora Dunn: 'SNL is a traumatic experience. It's something you have to survive'|work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|date=April 7, 2015|first=Kera|last=Bolonik|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=May 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526041040/https://www.salon.com/2015/04/07/nora_dunn_snl_is_a_traumatic_experience_it%E2%80%99s_something_you_have_to_survive/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Baez is portrayed by [[Monica Barbaro]] in the 2024 [[Bob Dylan]] biopic ''[[A Complete Unknown]]''. For her portrayal, Barbaro earned Best Supporting Actress nominations for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Academy Award]] and [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role|SAG Award]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Rebecca |date=2024-10-08 |title='A Complete Unknown' Trailer: Timothee Chalamet Sings, Boyd Holbrook Pops in as Johnny Cash |url=https://www.showbizjunkies.com/movies/complete-unknown-trailer/#google_vignette |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=ShowbizJunkies |language=en-US |archive-date=October 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241009063243/https://www.showbizjunkies.com/movies/complete-unknown-trailer/#google_vignette |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Discography==
{{Main|Joan Baez discography}}

{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
* ''[[Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Joan Baez (album)|Joan Baez]]'' (1960)
* ''[[Joan Baez, Vol. 2]]'' (1961)
* ''[[Joan Baez in Concert]]'' (1962)
* ''[[Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Joan Baez/5]]'' (1964)
* ''[[Farewell, Angelina]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Noël (Joan Baez album)|Noël]]'' (1966)
* ''[[Joan (album)|Joan]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time]]'' (1968)
* ''[[Any Day Now (Joan Baez album)|Any Day Now]]'' (1968)
* ''[[David's Album]]'' (1969)
* ''[[(I Live) One Day at a Time|One Day at a Time]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Sacco & Vanzetti (1971 film)|Sacco & Vanzetti]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Carry It On]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Blessed Are...]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Come from the Shadows]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Where Are You Now, My Son?]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Gracias a la Vida (album)|Gracias a la Vida]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Diamonds & Rust]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Gulf Winds]]'' (1976)
* ''[[Blowin' Away]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Honest Lullaby]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Recently (Joan Baez album)|Recently]]'' (1987)
* ''[[Diamonds & Rust in the Bullring]]'' (1988)
* ''[[Speaking of Dreams]]'' (1989)
* ''[[Play Me Backwards]]''  (1992)
* ''[[Gone from Danger]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Dark Chords on a Big Guitar]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Day After Tomorrow (Joan Baez album)|Day After Tomorrow]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Whistle Down the Wind (album)|Whistle Down the Wind]]'' (2018)
{{div col end}}

==Filmography==
{{Div col}}
* ''[[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom#Singers|The March on Washington]]'' (1963)
* ''The March'' (1964)
* ''[[The Big T.N.T. Show]]'' (1966)
* ''[[Dont Look Back]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Festival (1967 film)|Festival]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Woodstock (film)|Woodstock]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Carry It On]]'' (1970)
* ''Woody Guthrie All-Star Tribute Concert'' (1970)
* ''[[Celebration at Big Sur]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Dynamite Chicken]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Earl Scruggs#DVDs|Earl Scruggs: The Bluegrass Legend – Family & Friends]]'' (1972)
* ''Sing Sing Thanksgiving'' (1974)
* ''The Making of'' [[Silent Running]] (1974)
* ''A War is Over'' (1975)
* ''Banjoman'' (1975)
* ''[[Hard Rain (Bob Dylan album)|Bob Dylan: Hard Rain]]'' (TV Special, 1976)
* ''[[The Memory of Justice]]'' (1976)
* ''[[Renaldo and Clara]]'' (1978)
* ''There but for Fortune – Joan Baez in Central America'' (TV documentary, 1982)
* ''Sag nein'' (1983)
* ''In Our Hands'' (1984)
* ''[[Woody Guthrie]]: Hard Travelin''' (1984)
* ''[[Live Aid#Philadelphia, John F. Kennedy Stadium|Live Aid]]'' (1985)
* ''In Remembrance of Martin'' (1986)
* ''[[We Shall Overcome]]'' (1989)
* ''[[List of performances and events at Woodstock Festival|Woodstock: The Lost Performances]]'' (1990)
* ''[[Kris Kristofferson]]: His Life and Work'' (1993)
* ''[[Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Woodstock]] Diary'' (1994)
* ''A Century of Women'' (1994)
* ''[[The History of Rock 'n' Roll]]'' (1995)
* ''[[Rock & Roll (TV series)|Rock & Roll]]'' (1995)
* ''[[Message to Love]]: [[Isle of Wight Festival 1970]]'' (1996)
* ''Tree Sit: The Art of Resistance'' (2001)
* ''Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of'' [[The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour]] (2002)
* ''[[Soundstage (TV series)#Season 2: 2004|Soundstage: Joan Baez, Gillian Welch and Nickel Creek]]'' (2004)
* ''Fahrenheit 9/11: A Movement in Time'' (2004)
* ''Words and Music in Honor of Fahrenheit 9/11'' (2005)
* ''[[American Experience (season 17)|The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken]]'' (2005)
* ''[[No Direction Home]]'' (2005)
* ''[[Captain Mike Across America]]'' (2007)
* ''[[Pete Seeger: The Power of Song]]'' (2007)
* ''[[65 Revisited]]'' (2007)
* ''[[The Other Side of the Mirror (film)|The Other Side of the Mirror]]'' (2007)
* ''[[South Central Farm|South Central Farm: Oasis in a Concrete Desert.]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Fierce Light|Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action]]'' (2008)
* ''The Power of Their Song: The Untold Story of Latin America's New Song Movement'' (2008)
* ''[[American Masters|Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound]]'' (2009)
* ''[[Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel]]'' (2009)
* ''[[Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (Leonard Cohen album)|Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970]]'' (2009)
* ''Welcome to Eden'' (2009)
* ''In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement'' (2010)
* ''[[Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune]]'' (2010)
* ''Save the Farm'' (2011)
* ''For the Love of the Music: The Club 47 Folk Revival'' (2012)
* ''[[The March (2013 film)|The March]]'' (2013)
* ''Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis''' (2014)
* ''The Stars Behind the Iron Curtain'' (2014)
* ''[[Sharon Isbin]]: Troubadour'' (2014)
* ''Snapshots from the Tour'' (2015)
* ''[[The 1989 World Tour#Concert film|Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour Live]]'' (2015)
* ''Joan Baez: Rebel Icon'' (2015)
* ''[[King in the Wilderness]]'' (2018)
* ''[[Hugh Hefner]]'s [[Playboy After Dark|After Dark]]: Speaking Out in America'' (2018)
* ''Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind: The Carolina Chocolate Drops' Story'' (2019)
* ''[[Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese]]'' (2019)
* ''Woodstock'' (2019)<ref>{{cite web|title=Joan Baez Filmography|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/joan_baez|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=August 18, 2019|archive-date=August 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802164412/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/joan_baez|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Joan Baez Filmography|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001926/|publisher=[[IMDb]]|access-date=August 18, 2019|archive-date=August 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814164134/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001926/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Joan Baez|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/261867-Joan-Baez?filter_anv=0&subtype=Videos&type=Appearances|website=[[Discogs]]|access-date=August 18, 2019|archive-date=October 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021020112/https://www.discogs.com/artist/261867-Joan-Baez%3Ffilter_anv%3D0%26subtype%3DVideos%26type%3DAppearances|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[The Boys Who Said No!]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-31/brian-nankervis-on-joan-baez-music/12506188|title=Joan Baez's music continues to cut through at another time of upheaval|last=Nankervis|first=Brian|date=July 30, 2020|website=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|access-date=February 6, 2024|archive-date=February 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205052109/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-31/brian-nankervis-on-joan-baez-music/12506188|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/the-stars-celebrity-and-celestial-come-out-for-the-43rd-mill-valley-film-festival|title=The stars — celebrity and celestial — come out for the 43rd Mill Valley Film Festival|last=Johnson|first=G. Allen|date=October 4, 2020|website=[[Datebook (San Francisco Chronicle)|Datebook]]|access-date=February 6, 2024|archive-date=February 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205052100/https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/the-stars-celebrity-and-celestial-come-out-for-the-43rd-mill-valley-film-festival|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Joan Baez: I Am a Noise]]'' (2023)
{{Div col end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Music|United States}}
* [[List of peace activists]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|colwidth=40em}}
* Baez, Joan. 1968. ''Daybreak: An Intimate Journal''. New York, [[Dial Press]].
* Baez, Joan, 1987. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2tocQYV1owC And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir]''. New York City, Summit Books. {{ISBN|0-671-40062-2}}.
* Baez, Joan. 1988. ''And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir''. Century Hutchinson, London, UK. {{ISBN|0-7126-1827-9}}.
* Fuss, Charles J., 1996. ''Joan Baez: A Bio-Bibliography''. Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts Series. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press.
* Garza, Hedda, 1999. ''Joan Baez'' (Hispanics of Achievement). Chelsea House Publications.
* [[David Hajdu|Hajdu, David]], 2001. ''Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña And Richard Fariña''. New York, [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]]. {{ISBN|0-86547-642-X}}.
* Heller, Jeffrey, 1991. ''Joan Baez: Singer with a Cause''. People of Distinction Series. Children's Press.
* Jäger, Markus, 2003. ''Joan Baez and the Issue of Vietnam: Art and Activism versus Conventionality''. ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany. {{In lang|en}}
* Jaeger, Markus, 2021. ''Popular Is Not Enough: The Political Voice of Joan Baez''. Revised and updated edition. ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany. {{In lang|en}}
* Romero, Maritza, 1998. ''Joan Baez: Folk Singer for Peace''. Great Hispanics of Our Time Series. Powerkids Books.
* Rosteck, Jens, 2017. ''Joan Baez: Porträt einer Unbeugsamen''. Osburg Verlag, Hamburg, Germany. {{In lang|de}}
* Thomson, Elizabeth, 2020. ''Joan Baez: The Last Leaf'', Palazzo Editions, London, UK
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{allMusic}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090112070915/http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Article.aspx?id=4558 "Joan Baez: The Folk Heroine Mellows With Age"] – 1984 article and interview, reprinted in 2007 by ''[[Crawdaddy!]]''
* [http://www.newfilmco.com/CIOpage.htm "Carry It On", 1970 documentary film of Joan Baez and David Harris], produced by the New Film Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120309140429/http://www.paloaltohistory.com/joan-baez-in-palo-alto.php Joan Baez in Palo Alto]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/joan-baez-75th-birthday-celebration-8-things-you-didnt-know-about-joan-baez/4904/ PBS.org: 8 Things You Didn't Know About Joan Baez]
* {{Pop Chronicles|19}}
* 

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Mavis Staples]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[First Amendment Center]]/[[Americana Music Association|AMA "Spirit of Americana" Free Speech Award]] | years=2008}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Mary Chapin Carpenter]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Joan Baez}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Joan Baez
|list =
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 2020s}}
{{Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
}}
{{Woodstock}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baez, Joan}}
[[Category:Joan Baez| ]]
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Quakers]]
[[Category:21st-century American singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American songwriters]]
[[Category:21st-century American women guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Quakers]]
[[Category:A&M Records artists]]
[[Category:Civil rights activists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American acoustic guitarists]]
[[Category:American anti-poverty advocates]]
[[Category:American anti-racism activists]]
[[Category:American anti–death penalty activists]]
[[Category:American anti–Iraq War activists]]
[[Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists]]
[[Category:American women civil rights activists]]
[[Category:American country singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American folk guitarists]]
[[Category:American folk rock musicians]]
[[Category:American folk singers]]
[[Category:American musicians of Mexican descent]]
[[Category:American nonviolence advocates]]
[[Category:American pacifists]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:American Quakers]]
[[Category:American sopranos]]
[[Category:American street performers]]
[[Category:American tax resisters]]
[[Category:American women country singers]]
[[Category:American women environmentalists]]
[[Category:American women singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:CBS Records artists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Guitarists from California]]
[[Category:Guitarists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American musicians]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American women singers]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:LGBTQ rights activists from California]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:MNRK Music Group artists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Palo Alto, California]]
[[Category:Musicians from Staten Island]]
[[Category:Order of Arts and Letters of Spain recipients]]
[[Category:Palo Alto High School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Woodside, California]]
[[Category:American political music artists]]
[[Category:Proper Records artists]]
[[Category:Razor & Tie artists]]
[[Category:RCA Victor artists]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from California]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Spanish-language singers of the United States]]
[[Category:Vanguard Records artists]]
[[Category:Virgin Records artists]]
[[Category:Women in Latin music]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American environmentalists]]