Janis Ian
Encyclopedia
Janis Ian is an American
songwriter, singer, musician, columnist
, and science fiction
author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century. In 1975, Ian won a Grammy Award
for her song, "At Seventeen
".
, she was primarily raised in New Jersey
, initially on a farm, and attended East Orange High School
and the New York City High School of Music & Art
. Her parents, Victor (a music teacher) and Pearl, ran a summer camp in upstate New York, and, in that Cold War
era, were frequently under government surveillance because of their left-wing politics. (Ian would allude to these years later in her song "God and the FBI"). Young Janis admired the work of folk pioneers such as Joan Baez
and Odetta
. Starting with piano lessons at the age of 6 or 7, by the time she hit her teens, Ian had learned the organ, harpsichord, French horn, flute and guitar. At the age of twelve, Ian wrote her first song, "Hair of Spun Gold," which was subsequently published in the folk publication Broadside and was later recorded for her debut album. In 1964, she legally changed her name to Janis Ian, using as her new last name her brother Eric's middle name.
", about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl's mother and frowned upon by her peers and teachers: the girl ultimately decides to end the relationship, claiming the societal norms of the day have left her no other choice. Produced by George "Shadow" Morton
and released three times between 1965 and 1967, "Society's Child" finally became a national hit upon its third release, after Leonard Bernstein
featured it in a TV special titled Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution. The song's lyrical content was taboo for some radio stations, and they withdrew or banned it from their playlists accordingly; in her 2008 autobiography Society's Child, Ian recalls receiving hate mail and death threats as a response to the song, and mentions that a radio station in Atlanta that played it was burned down. In the summer of 1967, "Society's Child" reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100
, the single having sold 600,000 copies, and the album 350,000.
Ian relates on her website that, although the song was originally intended for Atlantic and the label paid for her recording session, the label subsequently returned the master
to her and quietly refused to release it. Years later, Ian says, Atlantic's president at the time, Jerry Wexler
, publicly apologized to her for this. The single and Ian's 1967 eponymous debut album were finally released on Verve Forecast; her album was also a hit, reaching #12. In 2001, "Society's Child" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings considered timeless and important to music history
. Her early music was compiled on a double CD
entitled Society's Child: The Verve Recordings in 1995.
"Society's Child" stigmatized Ian as a one-hit wonder until her most successful single in the United States, "At Seventeen
", a bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty
, the illusion of popularity
, and teenage angst
, as reflected upon from the perspective of a 24-year-old, was released in 1975. "At Seventeen" was a smash, receiving tremendous acclaim from critics and record buyers alike — it charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It won the 1975 Grammy Award
for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female beating out Linda Ronstadt
, who was nominated for her Heart Like a Wheel
album; Olivia Newton-John
; and Helen Reddy
. Ian performed "At Seventeen" as a musical guest on the debut of Saturday Night Live
on October 11, 1975. The song's album, Between the Lines, was also a smash and hit #1 on Billboard's Album chart. It was quickly certified Gold and later earned a 'Platinum' certification for sales of over one million copies sold in the US. Another measure of her success is anecdotal: on Valentine's Day 1977, Ian received 461 Valentine cards, having indicated in the lyrics to "At Seventeen" that she never received any as a teenager.
"Fly Too High" (1979), produced by disco
producer Giorgio Moroder
, was her contribution to the soundtrack of the Jodie Foster
film Foxes, also featured on Ian's 1979 album Night Rains. It earned her a Grammy nomination and became a hit single in many countries, including South Africa
, Belgium
. Australia
, Israel
, and the Netherlands
.
Another country where Ian has achieved a high level of popularity is Japan
. She had two top 10 singles on the Japanese Oricon
charts, "Love Is Blind" in 1976, and "You Are Love
" in 1980; and her album Aftertones topped Oricon's album chart in October 1976. "You Are Love (Toujours Gai Mon Cher)" is the theme song of Kinji Fukasaku
's 1980 movie Virus, which was the most expensive Japanese film ever made at the time. Ian has cut several other singles specifically for the Japanese market, including 1998's "The Last Great Place". Even now, she's still regarded as the Godmother of Japanese singer-songwriters, and has a thriving career there and in Europe.
By contrast, in the U.S., Ian made the pop charts only once more after "At Seventeen" ("Under the Covers", #71 in 1981), though she had several more songs reach the Adult Contemporary singles chart through 1980 (all failing to make the Top 20, however). She walked away from her CBS contract in 1982, while it still had three albums to go. Ian deliberately spent much of the 1980s and early 1990s without a record deal. During the 1982–1992 period she continued to write songs, which were covered by the likes of Amy Grant
and Bette Midler
. She also studied under acting coach Stella Adler
and struck up a close friendship with her, which continued until the latter's death in 1992.
Ian finally became one of the first "indie artists," resurfacing in 1993, with the worldwide release of Breaking Silence and its title song about incest.
She also came out as a lesbian
with that release. She also, in 1993, made her The Howard Stern Show appearance, where she performed a "new" version of "At Seventeen" about Jerry Seinfeld
. Since then Ian has released several albums.
Ian's most recent album, Folk Is The New Black, was released jointly by the Rude Girl and Cooking Vinyl labels in 2006. It is the first in over twenty years where she did all the songwriting herself.
She still tours and has a devoted fan base. Her autobiography, "Society's Child," was released by Penguin in mid-2008 to critical acclaim.
Other artists have recorded Ian's compositions, most notably Roberta Flack
, who had a hit in 1973 with Ian's song "Jesse", also recorded by Joan Baez
and Dottie West
; Ian's own version is featured on her 1974 album Stars (the title song of which has also been oft-covered, including versions by Cher
, Nina Simone
and Barbara Cook
). Other artists who have recorded or performed songs written or co-written by Janis Ian include Amy Grant
, Jeanette Dimech, Sheena Easton
, Michele Pillar
, Mel Torme
, Michelle Wright
, Bette Midler
("Some People's Lives," a song written by Ian and her then-partner Kye Fleming, became the title song of her 1990 album
), Jann Arden
, and Japanese singer Shiina Ringo
(covered Ian's breakthrough Japanese hit, "Love Is Blind").
(RIAA), a record industry organization which she sees as acting against the interests of musicians and consumer
s. As such, she has willingly released several of her songs for free download from her website. Along with science fiction
author Eric Flint
, she has argued that their experience provides conclusive evidence that free downloads dramatically increased hard-copy sales, contrary to the claims of RIAA and NARAS. Ian's signature tune "At Seventeen
" sold over two million singles in the United States alone yet was never certified.
"I've been surprised at how few people are willing to get annoyed with me over it," she laughs. "There was a little backlash here and there. I was scheduled to appear on a panel somewhere and somebody from a record company said if I was there they would boycott it. But that's been pretty much it. In general the entire reaction has been favorable. I hear from a lot of people in my industry who don't want to be quoted, but say 'yeah, we're aware of this and we'd like to see a change too.'"
, Ian writes science fiction
. A long-time reader of the genre, she got into science fiction fandom
in 2001, attending the Millennium Philcon. Her short stories have been published in anthologies, and she co-edited, with Mike Resnick
, the anthology Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian, published in 2003 (ISBN 978-0-7564-0177-1). She also occasionally attends science fiction conventions.
Ian has been a regular columnist for, and still contributes to the LGBT
news magazine, The Advocate
. She has a selection of her columns available on her website. She also contributed a column to Performing Songwriter magazine from 1995 through 2003.
On July 24, 2008, Janis Ian released her autobiography Society's Child (published by Penguin Tarcher) to much critical acclaim. An accompanying double CD, The Autobiography Collection, has also been released with many of Ian's best loved songs.
Ian's mother, Pearl, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
in 1975. To deal with her disease, Ian and her brother convinced Pearl to pursue her lifelong dream of going to college. Pearl eventually enrolled in Goddard College
's adult education program, ultimately graduating with a Master's degree. After Pearl's death, Ian decided to auction off merchandise and raise money to endow a scholarship at Goddard specifically for older continuing education
students. This began what became the Pearl Foundation, which funds scholarships at other colleges including Warren Wilson College
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
songwriter, singer, musician, columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century. In 1975, Ian won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for her song, "At Seventeen
At Seventeen
"At Seventeen" is a song by Janis Ian, released in 1975 on Between the Lines and as a single. Ian's most successful recording, the song is a commentary on adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the maturity of adulthood...
".
Childhood
Born to a Jewish family in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, she was primarily raised in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, initially on a farm, and attended East Orange High School
East Orange Campus High School
East Orange Campus High School is a public high school located in the city of East Orange, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in grades 10-12, located in the former campus of Upsala College. The school is part of the East Orange School District, classified as an Abbott...
and the New York City High School of Music & Art
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is a high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center and the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Center district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue...
. Her parents, Victor (a music teacher) and Pearl, ran a summer camp in upstate New York, and, in that Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
era, were frequently under government surveillance because of their left-wing politics. (Ian would allude to these years later in her song "God and the FBI"). Young Janis admired the work of folk pioneers such as Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
and Odetta
Odetta
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
. Starting with piano lessons at the age of 6 or 7, by the time she hit her teens, Ian had learned the organ, harpsichord, French horn, flute and guitar. At the age of twelve, Ian wrote her first song, "Hair of Spun Gold," which was subsequently published in the folk publication Broadside and was later recorded for her debut album. In 1964, she legally changed her name to Janis Ian, using as her new last name her brother Eric's middle name.
Music career
At the age of thirteen, Ian wrote and sang her first hit single, "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)Society's Child
"Society's Child " was a song written in 1965 by Janis Ian.It centered around the then-taboo subject of interracial romance...
", about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl's mother and frowned upon by her peers and teachers: the girl ultimately decides to end the relationship, claiming the societal norms of the day have left her no other choice. Produced by George "Shadow" Morton
Shadow Morton
George 'Shadow' Morton is an American record producer and songwriter best known for his influential work in the 1960s and the introduction of girl group The Shangri-Las to the pop music world....
and released three times between 1965 and 1967, "Society's Child" finally became a national hit upon its third release, after Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
featured it in a TV special titled Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution. The song's lyrical content was taboo for some radio stations, and they withdrew or banned it from their playlists accordingly; in her 2008 autobiography Society's Child, Ian recalls receiving hate mail and death threats as a response to the song, and mentions that a radio station in Atlanta that played it was burned down. In the summer of 1967, "Society's Child" reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, the single having sold 600,000 copies, and the album 350,000.
Ian relates on her website that, although the song was originally intended for Atlantic and the label paid for her recording session, the label subsequently returned the master
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
to her and quietly refused to release it. Years later, Ian says, Atlantic's president at the time, Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
, publicly apologized to her for this. The single and Ian's 1967 eponymous debut album were finally released on Verve Forecast; her album was also a hit, reaching #12. In 2001, "Society's Child" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings considered timeless and important to music history
Music history
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is the highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time...
. Her early music was compiled on a double CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
entitled Society's Child: The Verve Recordings in 1995.
"Society's Child" stigmatized Ian as a one-hit wonder until her most successful single in the United States, "At Seventeen
At Seventeen
"At Seventeen" is a song by Janis Ian, released in 1975 on Between the Lines and as a single. Ian's most successful recording, the song is a commentary on adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the maturity of adulthood...
", a bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty
Cruelty
Cruelty can be described as indifference to suffering, and even positive pleasure in inflicting it. If this is supported by a legal or social framework, then receives the name of perversion. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept....
, the illusion of popularity
Popularity
Popularity is the quality of being well-liked or common, or having a high social status. Popularity figures are an important part of many people's personal value systems and form a vital component of success in people-oriented fields such as management, politics, and entertainment, among...
, and teenage angst
Angst
Angst is an English, German, Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word for fear or anxiety . It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety or inner turmoil...
, as reflected upon from the perspective of a 24-year-old, was released in 1975. "At Seventeen" was a smash, receiving tremendous acclaim from critics and record buyers alike — it charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It won the 1975 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female beating out Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, who was nominated for her Heart Like a Wheel
Heart Like a Wheel
Heart Like a Wheel is Linda Ronstadt's fifth solo album release and the last-ever of her studio projects for Capitol Records, released in late 1974. It is universally considered to be Ronstadt's all-time high watermark masterpiece recording and a pioneering blueprint of Country Rock...
album; Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
; and Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
. Ian performed "At Seventeen" as a musical guest on the debut of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
on October 11, 1975. The song's album, Between the Lines, was also a smash and hit #1 on Billboard's Album chart. It was quickly certified Gold and later earned a 'Platinum' certification for sales of over one million copies sold in the US. Another measure of her success is anecdotal: on Valentine's Day 1977, Ian received 461 Valentine cards, having indicated in the lyrics to "At Seventeen" that she never received any as a teenager.
"Fly Too High" (1979), produced by disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
producer Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
, was her contribution to the soundtrack of the Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
film Foxes, also featured on Ian's 1979 album Night Rains. It earned her a Grammy nomination and became a hit single in many countries, including South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Another country where Ian has achieved a high level of popularity is Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. She had two top 10 singles on the Japanese Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
charts, "Love Is Blind" in 1976, and "You Are Love
You Are Love
You Are Love is a song by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II from their classic 1927 musical play Show Boat. It is sung twice in the show - first, by Magnolia Hawks, the heroine, and riverboat gambler Gaylord Ravenal when they agree to marry near the end of Act I, and again in the penultimate...
" in 1980; and her album Aftertones topped Oricon's album chart in October 1976. "You Are Love (Toujours Gai Mon Cher)" is the theme song of Kinji Fukasaku
Kinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
's 1980 movie Virus, which was the most expensive Japanese film ever made at the time. Ian has cut several other singles specifically for the Japanese market, including 1998's "The Last Great Place". Even now, she's still regarded as the Godmother of Japanese singer-songwriters, and has a thriving career there and in Europe.
By contrast, in the U.S., Ian made the pop charts only once more after "At Seventeen" ("Under the Covers", #71 in 1981), though she had several more songs reach the Adult Contemporary singles chart through 1980 (all failing to make the Top 20, however). She walked away from her CBS contract in 1982, while it still had three albums to go. Ian deliberately spent much of the 1980s and early 1990s without a record deal. During the 1982–1992 period she continued to write songs, which were covered by the likes of Amy Grant
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop"...
and Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
. She also studied under acting coach Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
and struck up a close friendship with her, which continued until the latter's death in 1992.
Ian finally became one of the first "indie artists," resurfacing in 1993, with the worldwide release of Breaking Silence and its title song about incest.
She also came out as a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
with that release. She also, in 1993, made her The Howard Stern Show appearance, where she performed a "new" version of "At Seventeen" about Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
. Since then Ian has released several albums.
Ian's most recent album, Folk Is The New Black, was released jointly by the Rude Girl and Cooking Vinyl labels in 2006. It is the first in over twenty years where she did all the songwriting herself.
She still tours and has a devoted fan base. Her autobiography, "Society's Child," was released by Penguin in mid-2008 to critical acclaim.
Other artists have recorded Ian's compositions, most notably Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
, who had a hit in 1973 with Ian's song "Jesse", also recorded by Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
and Dottie West
Dottie West
Dottie West was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and co-recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most influential and groundbreaking female artists...
; Ian's own version is featured on her 1974 album Stars (the title song of which has also been oft-covered, including versions by Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
and Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...
). Other artists who have recorded or performed songs written or co-written by Janis Ian include Amy Grant
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop"...
, Jeanette Dimech, Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
, Michele Pillar
Michele Pillar
Michele Diane Pillar is a three-time Grammy-nominated Christian singer, songwriter and occasional actress. Despite only a short list of studio albums recorded, she has been a strong influence in contemporary Christian music for three decades.-Early career:In 1987, aged 32, she married the jazz...
, Mel Torme
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
, Michelle Wright
Michelle Wright
Michelle Wright is a Canadian country music artist. She is one of the country's most widely recognized and awarded female country singers of the 1990s, winning the Canadian Country Music Association's Fans' Choice Award twice...
, Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
("Some People's Lives," a song written by Ian and her then-partner Kye Fleming, became the title song of her 1990 album
Some People's Lives
Some People's Lives is the seventh studio album by American singer Bette Midler, released on the Atlantic Records label in 1990. It contains one of her biggest hits, "From A Distance", which won her a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1991....
), Jann Arden
Jann Arden
Jann Arden is a Canadian singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Arden was born and raised near Calgary in Springbank, Alberta and attended Springbank Community High School. Her breakthrough came with her critically acclaimed 1993 debut album Time for Mercy and her first single "I Would Die For You"...
, and Japanese singer Shiina Ringo
Shiina Ringo
, known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer-songwriter, music composer and music producer. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen.She describes herself as ""....
(covered Ian's breakthrough Japanese hit, "Love Is Blind").
Criticism of the RIAA
She is an outspoken critic of the Recording Industry Association of AmericaRecording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA), a record industry organization which she sees as acting against the interests of musicians and consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
s. As such, she has willingly released several of her songs for free download from her website. Along with science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
author Eric Flint
Eric Flint
Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
, she has argued that their experience provides conclusive evidence that free downloads dramatically increased hard-copy sales, contrary to the claims of RIAA and NARAS. Ian's signature tune "At Seventeen
At Seventeen
"At Seventeen" is a song by Janis Ian, released in 1975 on Between the Lines and as a single. Ian's most successful recording, the song is a commentary on adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the maturity of adulthood...
" sold over two million singles in the United States alone yet was never certified.
"I've been surprised at how few people are willing to get annoyed with me over it," she laughs. "There was a little backlash here and there. I was scheduled to appear on a panel somewhere and somebody from a record company said if I was there they would boycott it. But that's been pretty much it. In general the entire reaction has been favorable. I hear from a lot of people in my industry who don't want to be quoted, but say 'yeah, we're aware of this and we'd like to see a change too.'"
Writing and editing
In addition to being an award-winning singer-songwriterSinger-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, Ian writes science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. A long-time reader of the genre, she got into science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
in 2001, attending the Millennium Philcon. Her short stories have been published in anthologies, and she co-edited, with Mike Resnick
Mike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
, the anthology Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian, published in 2003 (ISBN 978-0-7564-0177-1). She also occasionally attends science fiction conventions.
Ian has been a regular columnist for, and still contributes to the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
news magazine, The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
. She has a selection of her columns available on her website. She also contributed a column to Performing Songwriter magazine from 1995 through 2003.
On July 24, 2008, Janis Ian released her autobiography Society's Child (published by Penguin Tarcher) to much critical acclaim. An accompanying double CD, The Autobiography Collection, has also been released with many of Ian's best loved songs.
Personal life
Ian married Portuguese filmmaker Tino Sargo in 1978; they divorced in 1983. Details of Sargo's physical and emotional abuse were discussed in Ian's autobiography, Society's Child. After moving to Nashville, she met Patricia Snyder in 1989. Ian has a stepdaughter by Snyder, and two grandchildren. Snyder and Ian were married in Toronto on August 27, 2003.Ian's mother, Pearl, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
in 1975. To deal with her disease, Ian and her brother convinced Pearl to pursue her lifelong dream of going to college. Pearl eventually enrolled in Goddard College
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
's adult education program, ultimately graduating with a Master's degree. After Pearl's death, Ian decided to auction off merchandise and raise money to endow a scholarship at Goddard specifically for older continuing education
Continuing education
Continuing education is an all-encompassing term within a broad spectrum of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada...
students. This began what became the Pearl Foundation, which funds scholarships at other colleges including Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College is a private four-year work college in the Swannanoa Valley, North Carolina, United States near Asheville. It is known for its curriculum of work, academics, and service, called "the Triad," which requires every student to work an on-campus job, perform at least one hundred...
.
Albums
- Janis Ian (1967) #29 US (Verve)
- For All the Seasons of Your Mind (1967) #179 US (Verve)
- The Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink (1968) (Verve)
- Who Really Cares (1969) (Verve)
- Present Company (1971) #223 US (Capitol)
- Stars (1974) #83 US, #63 (Columbia)
- Between the Lines (1975) #1 US, #22 Japan (Columbia, Festival)
- Aftertones (1976) #12 US, #1 Japan (Columbia)
- Miracle Row (1977) #45 US, #26 Japan (Columbia)
- Janis Ian (1978) (Columbia)
- Night Rains (1979) (Columbia)
- Restless Eyes (1981) #156 US (Columbia)
- Uncle Wonderful (1983) (Festival) (Australia only)
- Breaking Silence (1993) (Morgan Creek)
- Simon Renshaw Presents: Janis Ian Shares Your Pain (1995) (not released until 12.09)
- Revenge (1995) (Beacon)
- Hunger (1997) (Windham Hill)
- god & the fbi (2000) (Windham Hill)
- god & the fbi (3 Bonus Tracks) (2000) (JVC Japan)
- Lost Cuts 1 (2001) (Rude Girl)
- Billie's Bones (2004) (Oh Boy, Rude Girl Cooking Vinyl US)
- Breaking Silence (Bonus Track) (2003) (Rude Girl, Cooking Vinyl UK)
- Hunger (Bonus Track) (2003) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
- Stars (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl)
- Between the Lines (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
- Aftertones (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
- Miracle Row (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
- Janis Ian (1978) (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
- Night Rains (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
- Billie's Bones (Bonus Track) (2004) (JVC Japan)
- Folk is the New Black (2006) (Rude Girl)
- Folk is the New Black (With DVD) (2006) (Evasound)
- Revenge (Bonus Track) (2006) (Cooking Vinyl UK 2003) (WEA)
Compilation albums
- Remember (1978) (JVC Japan)
- The Best of Janis Ian (1980) (CBS)
- My Favourites (1980) (CBS)
- Stars/Night Rains (Double Album) (1987) (CBS)
- At Seventeen (1990) (CBS)
- Up 'Til Now (1992) (Sony)
- Society's Child: The Verve Recordings (1995) (Polydor)
- Live on the Test 1976 (1995) (BBC World Wide)
- Unreleased 1: Mary's Eyes (1998) (Rude Girl)
- The Bottom Line Encore Collection (1999) (Velvet)
- The Best of Janis Ian (2002) (Festival)
- Live: Working Without a Net (2003) (Rude Girl)
- Souvenirs: Best of 1972-1981 (US CD) (2004) (Rude Girl)
- Souvenirs: Best of 1972-1981 (Japan CD) (2004) (JVC Japan)
- Souvenirs: Best of 1972-1981 (CD/DVD) (2006) (Evasound)
- Unreleased 2: Take No Prisoners (2006) (Rude Girl)
- Unreleased 3: Society's Child (2006) (Rude Girl)
- Ultimate Best (2007) (JVC Victory)
- Best of Janis Ian: Autobiography Collection (2008) (Rude Girl)
- The Essential Janis Ian (2009)
Singles
| Year | Title | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S. | U.S. A/C Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
JAP Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking) Society's Child "Society's Child " was a song written in 1965 by Janis Ian.It centered around the then-taboo subject of interracial romance... " |
14 | 13 | – | – | – |
| "Insanity Comes Quietly to the Structured Mind" | 109 | 82 | – | – | – | |
| 1974 | "The Man You Are in Me" | 104 | – | 33 | – | – |
| 1975 | "When the Party's Over" | – | – | 20 | – | – |
| "At Seventeen At Seventeen "At Seventeen" is a song by Janis Ian, released in 1975 on Between the Lines and as a single. Ian's most successful recording, the song is a commentary on adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the maturity of adulthood... " |
3 | 1 | 1 | – | – | |
| "In the Winter" | – | 97 | 21 | – | – | |
| 1976 | "Boy I Really Tied One On" | – | – | 43 | – | – |
| "I Would Like to Dance" | – | – | 28 | – | – | |
| "Roses" | – | – | 37 | – | – | |
| "Love Is Blind" | – | – | – | – | 1 | |
| "Between the Lines" | – | – | – | – | 90 | |
| 1977 | "Will You Dance?" | – | – | – | – | 40 |
| 1978 | "That Grand Illusion" | – | – | 43 | – | – |
| 1979 | "Fly Too High" | – | – | – | 44 | – |
| 1980 | "You Are Love" | – | – | – | – | 10 |
| "The Other Side of the Sun" | – | – | 47 | 44 | – | |
| 1981 | "Under the Covers" | 71 | – | – | – | – |
DVDs
- Live at Club Cafe (2005) (Rude Girl)
- Janismania (2005) (Rude Girl)
- Through the Years: A Retrospective (2007) (Rude Girl)
- Janis Ian '79: Live in Japan & Australia (2008) (Rude Girl)
External links
- Janis Ian's Pearl Foundation
- Janis Ian archive at NPR MusicNPR MusicNPR Music launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music discovery. The Web site is a project of National Public Radio, a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797...
- Janis Ian interview on Slashdot, 2002
- 2006 interview