1941年1月9日出生于美国纽约Staten岛上.我们经常听到的与"民谣皇帝"Bob Dylan齐名的"民谣女皇"的称号就是指的Joan Baez.Baez作为民谣界女性权威演绎者的地位是在1959年Newprot民谣节上的演出后奠定的.她对民谣音乐的理解加上天生的近乎完美的嗓音使得她成为50年代之后民谣音乐中的一棵奇葩.
Baez最初的四张专辑均取材于美洲与英国的传统民谣,然而随着民权运动的发展,她开始逐渐投身于抗议运动,这才让Baez成为真正有内容与个性的Joan Baez.在JOAN BAEZ IN CONCERT,PART 2专辑中的一曲We Shall Overcome,从多方面体现出了Baez的音乐个性,从而成为其音乐中的经典之一.同张专辑中还包括了Bob Dylan的几首歌:Don't Think Twice,It's All Right.Joan Baez带着这些有力的歌四处进行巡回演出,从音乐发面推动了民权运动,同时也孕育了她与Bob Dylan之间浪漫的爱情故事.多年之中,Baez演绎了Dylan多首经典曲目:Farewell Angelina,Love Is Just A Four Letter Word......在这段日子与以后的岁月中,Baez越发的投身于非暴力的抗议运动.她在60年代中创立了非暴力学习协会,自己也因为参加反站集会而两次入狱.
1968年,Joan Baez与另一位激进运动成员David Harris结婚,但于1972年离婚.1975年的专辑DIAMONDS AND RUST是一张完全由Baez自己创作的专辑,其中的标题歌Diamonds and rust被认为是Joan Baez最出色的一首歌曲之一. 这首曲子是以Baez和Dylan当年亦师亦友的感情为主轴描写的一段Joan自己的感情.歌词或可说晦涩但却蕴含真情.
进入八九十年代,Joan Baez更是把自己的生活分为两个方面:人道主义运动与音乐方面.在前者,她于1979年创立了国际人权社,于后者,Joan Baez又有多张广受好评的专辑,包括1989年纪念从艺30年的SPEAKING OF DREAMS专辑.Joan Baez前期作为一位民谣歌手,后期作为一位人道主义歌手,都决定了她是廿世纪50年代之后的一位伟大的歌手.
In the month of May, in the glory of the day
Came the descendants of a hundred flowers
And their fight it did begin with the aging Mandarin
And they fought with an extraordinary power
Everyone was smiling, their hearts were one
In Tiananmen Square
But it seems that the Spring this year in Beijing
Came just before the Fall
There was no summer at all
In Tiananmen Square
China... China
There's peace in the emerald fields, there's mist upon the lakes
But something is afoot in the People's Hall
The spirit of Chu Ping is alive in young Chai Ling
And the Emperor has his back against the wall
Black sun rising over Tiananmen Square
Over Tiananmen Square
But it seems that the Spring this year in Beijing
Came just before the Fall
There was no summer at all
In Tiananmen Square
China... China
In the month of June, in the darkness of the moon
Went the descendants of a hundred flowers
And time may never tell how many of them fell
Like the petals of a rose in some satanic shower
Everyone was weeping in all of China
And Tiananmen Square
But it seems that the Spring this year in Beijing
Came just before the Fall
There was no summer at all
In Tiananmen Square
China... China
And even the moon on the fourth day of June
Hid her face and did not see
Black sun rising over Tiananmen Square
And Wang Wei Lin, you remember him
All alone he stood before the tanks
A shadow of forgotten ancestors in Tiananmen Square
And my blue-eyed son, you had no one
You could call a hero of your age
You have the rainbow warriors of Tiananmen Square, singing
China Shall Be Free
China Shall Be Free
China Shall Be Free
