Judy Collins

An ethereally voiced singer on the folk and pop scenes of the 1960s and 1970s, Judy Collins gained fame as an insightful and impassioned interpreter of popular songs, including her Grammy-winning signature tune, Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now," during the course of an award-winning, four-decade career. Initially aligned with the coffeehouse folk movement of the early 1960s, Collins began exploring the songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, as well as more pop- and rock-oriented acts like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Her crystalline voice and willingness to experiment with genre and sound made her a favorite of listeners and audiences alike, who flocked to her in the 1970s with her take on Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns." Personal issues derailed her career in the late 1970s, leaving her struggling to regain her footing in the subsequent decade, but her persistence and wide body of accomplished recordings kept her a perennial favorite among audiences who had grown up listening to her music, as well as younger fans who received her records from older family members. Still prolific as a recording and touring artist in the 21st century, Collins' career was a rare and enduring instance when folk and pop sensibilities merged with seamless beauty and style.