Joan Baez is considered the “most accomplished interpretive folk singer/songwriter of the 1960s”. She was born in Staten Island, New York to a Mexican father Albert Baez, and her mother Joan Chandos Baez who was from Edinburgh, Scotland.  She is revered as a singer, songwriter, musician, and activist.  Her father, a professor at MIT moved the family a lot, but mostly she grew up in the San Francisco area and Boston, Massachusetts. 

She began recording in 1960 and was an instant success. Her first three albums, Joan Baez, Joan Baez, Vol. 2, and Joan Baez in Concert, all achieved gold record status. In 1969 Baez was one performer at the Woodstock Festival. 

In the 60s she recorded fourteen records with Vanguard, thirteen made the top 100 on Billboard’s mainstream pop chart, eleven made the top forty, and eight made the top twenty, while four made the top ten. 

From early on 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. 

Baez has always been committed to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights, and the environment and her song reflected that. Her social activism was influenced by Pete Seeger, Odetta Holmes, and decades-long friend Harry Belafonte.  She was friends and a major supporter of Martin Luther King and his civil rights movement. 

Through her music, she has advocated throughout her career for civil rights, the end of the Vietnam war, the environment, LGBTQ, and was instrumental in founding the USA section of Amnesty International in the 1970s.  In 1987 she traveled to the Middle East to visit with and sing songs of peace for Israel and the Palestinians.

In 2007 Baez received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. And in 2017 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On the occasion of her birthday, the platform Seated has scheduled the Mischief Makers 2: An Intimate Evening with the Artist. It will showcase her portraits of individuals making the world a better place.  Her portraits include singer-songwriter Patti Smith, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, filmmaker Michael Moore, former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick, gun control activist Emma Gonzalez, counterculture icon Wavy Gravy and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and activist Alice Walker. 

FOR TICKET to the streaming event CLICK HERE  

Featured Photo: Joan Baez

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Having sold an estimated 60 million records worldwide, Juan Gabriel is considered one of the greatest Mexican composers of all time and among the most beloved Spanish language artists known the world over.  His early hits, No Tengo Dinero (1971, focused on his humble beginnings and thrust him into the limelight making him a folklore type of hero. 

Juan Gabriel received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002 and in 2009, the singer was honored as the Latin Recording Academy’s Person of the Year.

Billboard listed Gabriel, in their list of the 30 most influential Latino artists in history.  He received three Latin Grammys Awards after his death.

Some of Gabriel’s famous award-winning songs include Abrazame Muy Fuerte, Te Sigo Amando, El Destino (a duet with Rocio Durcal), Yo No Se Que Me Paso, No Tengo Dinero, and Amor Eterno is perhaps his most famous, an homage to his mother. 

His album Recuerdos is said to be the best-selling album of all time in Mexico, having sold over eight million copies.

Juanga, as he was affectionately called by his adoring fans performed in prestigious venues worldwide and in the U.S. In Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay, and in Los Angeles, at the Universal Amphitheater, the Rose Bowl, and The Forum. Nationwide and globally, Gabriel performed at the largest and most famous venues. 

Juan Gabriel was a generous philanthropist donating to orphanages and children’s homes, and their families. He especially doted on single mothers struggling to raise their children.

Featured Photo: Facebook

— Latin Heat News Service

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