Joan Baez says she got "lost in the shuffle" of Bob Dylan's fame with past relationship

14 May 2024, 15:16

Joan Baez I Am A Noise – documentary trailer

By Mayer Nissim

Joan Baez's story became briefly intertwined with that of Bob Dylan.

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Joan Baez is one of the greatest living folk singers and one of the leading voices of the 20th century.

She broke through in the early 1960s, interpreting classic folk songs alongside contemporary hits, scoring a run of hit live and studio albums at the start of the decade.

One of the artists she covered was the then-up-and-coming Bob Dylan, whom she had met in 1961

They dated around this time and Joan did much to bring Bob's music to the masses, also bringing him out on stage during her shows.

Bob broke up with Joan in 1965, but their stories remained intertwined. Joan continued to cover Bob's songs, and appeared on his classic 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Revue.

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival. Picture: Getty Images

In 1975, she released the stunning 'Diamonds and Rust' about Dylan.

Joan, who was the subject of 2023 documentary Joan Baez: I Am a Noise, has opened up to The Independent about how Dylan's sudden explosion of fame affected her own career.

“I think that his fame happened so fast, and it was so huge, that I kind of got lost in the shuffle," Baez said.

"I remember a kid came up to me – this was the worst of it, when I really didn't exist to any of them – some kid came up to me in Germany in a lobby and said, 'Oh, Miss Baez, can I have an interview with you? Bob wouldn't give me one'."

Joan Baez, Diamonds and Rust - Live, 1975

She added: "I said, 'F**k you!' It was horrible. It was really awful."

Baez also revealed that she had spoken to actor Monica Barbaro, who will play her in upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown, which will see Timothée Chalamet play Dylan.

“I just talked about my dependence on Bob, and how I always felt below him,” she said.

"That he was ‘the dude’, and I was kind of...It’s true! I mean, I was so infatuated with him and the music that I was... I was always looking up like that, so I thought she would probably benefit from that kind of explanation."