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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJoan Baez has announced her retirement from the stage at the age of 85.
Joan Baez has announced her retirement from the stage at the age of 85. âThis is not just the end of my career.
— Charles Keener (@charleskeener.bsky.social) 2026-05-12T21:38:15.839Z
Itâs the final chapter of an entire era â an era of idealism, of protest, of songs that dared to challenge power and awaken hearts.
Thank you for everything.
malaise
(297,754 posts)msongs
(74,123 posts)PatSeg
(53,475 posts)Botany
(77,796 posts)walkingman
(11,130 posts)for anyone that ever doubts how nasty white people can be, I saw some of my neighbors show their true colors. This was a small town and everybody knew everybody.
Sadly, we continue to fight these same battles 60 years later. ☮

sheshe2
(98,340 posts)Joinfortmill
(21,603 posts)Emrys
(9,203 posts)As she sang, the power and depth of her voice and its and her beauty had me in floods of tears, maybe partly because her music was an important part of my childhood as my brother and sister were around ten years older than me, and no doubt partly because I was absolutely off my face.
QueerDuck
(1,926 posts)Diamonds and Rust.
sheshe2
(98,340 posts)Back in the day, I played the guitar and sang many of her songs. 🫶❤️
Talitha
(8,143 posts)sheshe2
(98,340 posts)NBachers
(19,557 posts)sheshe2
(98,340 posts)yorkster
(3,941 posts)sop
(19,202 posts)and awaken hearts." Doesn't sound very hopeful for the future. Sadly, I think she's right.
BeneteauBum
(747 posts)Incumbent on us to move forward
.
Peace ☮️
GenThePerservering
(3,664 posts)I hope she continues to speak out.
Tanuki
(16,498 posts)and lend her voice to the fight against racist redistricting, voter suppression, and White supremacy.
https://www.instagram.com/brotherjones_/reel/DX8GOrthNwU/?hl=en
sheshe2
(98,340 posts)Thank you.
malaise
(297,754 posts)Rec
Brother Buzz
(40,360 posts)?si=8-hD_5pFiRlT67Uc
sheshe2
(98,340 posts)Thank you, Brother Buzz.
Beautiful.
Botany
(77,796 posts)The top video was less than 2 months ago. Joan had a life well lived.
Brother Buzz
(40,360 posts)Folk legend Joan Baez made a surprise appearance at Jesse Welles sold-out show at The Fillmore in San Francisco on November 4, 2025, performing a duet of his protest song "No Kings" and the Dylan classic "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right". This collaboration served as a symbolic "passing of the torch".
Jesse made the sojourn from Arkansas to Joan Baez backyard with his patented smile and a bounce in his step and let the magic happen.
FakeNoose
(42,291 posts)Thank you Joan Baez! One of the greatest folk singers ever - with the voice of an angel!!!
Dave Id
(325 posts)for all of you gifts in your activism and beautiful voice. You are cherished in our hearts.
BaronChocula
(4,709 posts)I'll even sing along to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." But it's ok. It was written by a Canadian.
Niagara
(12,086 posts)LoisB
(13,387 posts)up against injustices for so many years.
COL Mustard
(8,364 posts)Damn glad I did. She has been an amazing force for almost my entire life.
I love you Joan!
allegorical oracle
(6,560 posts)sheshe2
(98,340 posts)Thank you, that was incredibly moving.
allegorical oracle
(6,560 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,619 posts)seen her perform countless times. I did get to meet her sisters and brother in law and her delightful parents. What a terrific loving family. No wonder she has always been on the correct side of civil rights, and justice, and not afraid to sing about it!
sheshe2
(98,340 posts)even though you missed out on meeting Joan.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,619 posts)unc70
(6,513 posts)She sang at the candlelight vigil from The Castro for Milk and Moscone back in 1978 in San Francisco. We were all so young.
Starbeach
(369 posts)Thank you for staying true all these years.
brer cat
(27,667 posts)for so long.
sheshe2
(98,340 posts)I so wish I had seen her.
swong19104
(658 posts)A few days ago, I was chatting with some 30-somethings and I mentioned Arlo Guthries Alices Restaurant. They never heard it or of it. I really wonder how many of the folk songs of the 60s and 70s are being listened by the younger generations.
I was also at a nightclub (of sorts) and the band was playing American standards like Route 66, Spanish Eyes, etc. Then they played CCRs Have You Ever Seen The Rain. CCR among the standards??
WheelWalker
(9,414 posts)deurbano
(3,008 posts)in 2010 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. Kristofferson (one of my all-time faves) opened for Haggard (one of my all-time faves), and Kris came back out to sing/play with Haggard at the end... and then (in a huge surprise), John (one of my all-rime faves) and Joan (one of my all-time faves) joined them! Not sure there was anyone alive at that moment I wanted to see more than the four of them....or anywhere I would rather have been! (And I had seen them all separately several times.) Transplendent!
I saw Joan at a benefit tribute (to her) concert at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco (with other amazing legends) last year, and then at a No Kings rally in SF last fall. She has always been (and continues to be) an inspiration!
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13971571/joan-baez-review-masonic-san-francisco-sweet-relief
sheshe2
(98,340 posts)That must have been amazing to see. She is an inspiration to us all.
Response to sheshe2 (Original post)
deurbano This message was self-deleted by its author.
Talitha
(8,143 posts)For everything. Thank you.
Figarosmom
(13,148 posts)tavernier
(14,501 posts)But Im still singing and protesting and carrying on. Its not over,
And so say my kids and grandkids.
Kablooie
(19,120 posts)To keep going up to 85 is amazing. Hope I can do that.
calimary
(90,673 posts)Youve been such an inspiration over the years!
And youre only retiring. That means youre still here! I take great comfort in that.
KT2000
(22,205 posts)that did it. The hard work - and she did work hard - and now watching those successes being dismantled. Her heart is broken. I am sad about this.
So many gave so much back when it was cool to be better people instead of the garbage dwellers we are surrounded by now.
SheltieLover
(81,593 posts)CousinIT
(12,732 posts)
.I want to wrap in bubble wrap and put her on a high shelf so I can keep her safe forever. Of course no one lives that long.
Here she is singing Nasty Man. You can guess who its about. Shes a jewel of a human being.
mountain grammy
(29,177 posts)it started to rain while the Paul Butterfield band was playing and they were plugged in so they had to stop..
Joan came out and did a couple of songs, no power.. acoustic guitar and her voice. She's a small woman and she was dancing around the stage soaking wet. We had seats when she played. We watched Dylan from the parking lot.
MerryBlooms
(12,389 posts)I just listened to 4 songs... Be well, shining light.
DinahMoeHum
(23,669 posts)in Madison Square Garden,NY; leading the audience in "Jacob's Ladder"
Before that, I saw her in 2009 at the 50th anniversary of the Newport Folk Festival.
She did "Diamonds And Rust" as a duet with Judy Collins.
Her performance had me feel like my feet were firmly screwed to the ground and my skin prickled with goose bumps.