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{by-ez'}
Joan Baez, b. Staten Island, N.Y., Jan. 9, 1941, is a folksinger
and guitarist noted for her strong, pure soprano voice. A
singer in Cambridge, Mass., coffeehouses in the mid-1950s,
Baez first reached a national audience at the 1959 Newport
Folk Festival. She had several early recordings, primarily
of Anglo-American folk ballads, that each sold more than 1
million copies. An early Bob DYLAN enthusiast, Baez recorded
many of his songs, as well as those she herself had composed.
She was prominent during the 1960s in the civil rights and
antiwar movements. In the 1970s Baez more or less retired
from singing while continuing to work for other political
causes. In 1985 she returned to the stage, opening the immensely
successful Live Aid concert. Her autobiography, And a Voice
to Sing With, was published in 1987. In late 1989 Baez celebrated
her three-decade career in show business with an album entitled
Speaking of Dreams.
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