American folk singer and activist, Joan Baez was born Joan Chandos Baez on January 9, 1941 in Staten Island, New York. Born into a family of the Quaker faith, Baez’s father was a physicist of Mexican descent, and her mother was of West-European descent. Growing up, Baez was exposed to classical music; however she opted to play rock and roll on her guitar rather than taking piano lessons.After graduating from high school in Palo Alto, California in 1958, Baez moved with her family to Boston, where she became interested in the local folk music scene.

Baez attended Boston University for a brief period, and broadened her repertoire to include singing Anglo-American ballads, blues, spirituals, and international songs in addition to folk music. It was at this time that she began garnering the attention of other folk singers such as Harry Belafonte, who asked her to sing with his group.Baez’s breakthrough performance came in the summer of 1959, when she was invited to sing at the Newport Rhode Island Folk Festival. She developed a huge folk following from her exposure; however, Baez opted to continue playing in Boston coffee shops versus signing with a major record label at that time. After performing at the festival a second time the following year, Baez made her debut self-titled album with Vanguard Records.