Photo: Adam Bettcher/Getty Images
Without naming names but easy enough to deduce, Joan Baez has let her disappointment known about the morals of some of the most popular women in the music industry. Appearing on the latest episode of Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the singer-songwriter — not one to tolerate a heap of bullshit — was asked about the pattern of artists staying silent on the current assault on our democracy, something Baez refused to do, famously, since the start of her own career 60 years ago. “I understand where they’re coming from,” Baez responded. “The young people right now, some are writing amazing stuff. A few are willing to speak out.” She cites the diamond duo of Brandi Carlile and her “pal” Maggie Rogers as those putting in good advocacy work, the latter of whom was “front and center on the stage at a rally against ICE” just last month. The rest, though, are rust to her. “I sort of cock my head at these stadiums filled with brilliant young women songwriters, and why can’t they just take that little step?” Baez asked. “Because they’re already richer than God, you know, most of them. So, that little step.” Might anyone try it?
Related