Janis Ian

Janis Ian - Author, Facts and Facts

Violet FieldHome › AmericanJanis IanApril 7, 1951407 views

0 based on 0 rates
Janis Ian Biography Stories 

Janis Ian's Personal Details

Janis Ian is one of the reputed American singers and songwriters of the 20th century

InformationDetail
BirthdayApril 7, 1951
NationalityAmerican
FamousJewish Singers, Lesbians, Musicians, Singers, Folk Singers, Author, Musicians, Songwriters
SpousesPatricia Snyder, Tino Sargo
SiblingsEric
Known asJanis Eddy Fink
Birth PlaceBronx
GenderFemale
FatherVictor
MotherPearl
Net Worth$1 million as of Feb 15,2017
Sun SignAries
Born inBronx
Famous asSinger, Songwriter, Musician & Author

// Famous Musicians

Greg Cipes

Greg Cipes

Greg Cipes is a multi-talented American artist; he is an actor, musician, voice actor, composer and professional surfer. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about his life.

Peter Green

Peter Green

Peter Green is a British musician and the founder of the famous English band ‘Fleetwood Mac’. This biography offers detailed information on his childhood, life, career, achievements & timeline.

Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

Explore through the life of Jimmy Hendrix, an American guitarist, song-writer and singer.

Janis Ian's photo

Who is Janis Ian?

Janis Ian is one of the celebrated singers and songwriters of the 20th century. A child prodigy, she was musically inclined since young and took to learning various musical instruments and song writing techniques. Even before entering her teens she had mastered the playing skills required for piano, organ, flute, harpsichord, French horn and guitar. She stepped into the world of music in the mid-1960s with her debut self-titled album which jumped to fame escalating her status in the music industry. However, she wasn’t able to replicate the success story of her first album for more than a decade. It was only later that she regained commercial success with the 1975 released album, ‘Between the Lines’. Its single ‘At Seventeen’ topped the charts at the Billboard Hot 100 and so did the album. The mass popularity of the song and the album led her to win a Grammy as well. Over the years, she has come up with various albums. In addition to music, Janis Ian has been a fan of science fiction books and has tried her hand at writing in the same genre as well. She has contributed as a columnist for various publications.

// Famous Author

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer is a Christian author and speaker. This biography provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline

Suze Orman

Suze Orman

Suze Orman is an American television host, financial advisor, author and motivational speaker, famous for her ‘The Suze Orman Show’ on CNBC. This biography profiles her childhood, life, career, works, achievements and timeline.

Robert Graysmith

Robert Graysmith

Robert Graysmith is an author best identified for his works on the ‘Zodiac Killer case’. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him.

Childhood & Early Life

Janis Ian was born as Janis Eddy Fink to Victor and Pearl in New York City. His parents operated a summer camp in New York.

Raised in a Jewish household, young Janis spent most of her childhood days in New Jersey. She attended the East Orange High School in New Jersey to complete her formal education.

Since an early age, she had a fascination for folk music and was inspired by the music of Joan Baez, Odetta, Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday. Musically inclined, she started learning how to play the piano at the age of six.

At the age of 12, she wrote her first song ‘Hair of Spun Gold’, which was published in the folk publication Broadside. The same year, she legally changed her name from Janis Eddy Fink to Janis Ian, the last name which was the middle name of her brother Eric.

By the time she entered her teens, she had learned various musical instruments such as organ, harpsichord, French horn, flute and guitar.

Career

At the age of 13, she wrote and sang her first single ‘Society’s Child Baby I’ve Been Thinking’. The song depicted the interracial romance which was looked down upon by the society and the parents of the girl in love.

Since the society back then rigidly and religiously followed the rules, the lyrics of the song which mocked people who abhorred interracial relationship created a stir in the society. The song was thus banned from playing at several radio stations. She even received hate mails and death threats for the song.

Between 1965 and 1967, the song was released thrice. However, it was in its third release when Leonard Bernstein featured it in a CBS TV special titled Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution that the song went on to become a national hit.

Despite all odds, the song enjoyed immense popularity among the rest of the society, leaving a section of it. It went on to reach the number 14 status on the Billboard Hot 100 charts having sold more than 600,000 copies. The success of the song made her an overnight star

In 1967she released her eponymous debut album, ‘Janis Ian’ which was finally released on Verve Forecast. The album peaked at Number 29 and sold more than 350,000 copies.

Following her debutant hit, she came up with three more albums simultaneously, ‘For All the Seasons of Your Mind’, ‘The Secret Life of J Eddy Fink’ and Who Really Cares’ in 1967, 1968 and 1969 respectively. She distributed the profits from the album to her friends and in charities.

At the age of 20, she announced her retirement from the music industry. However, the self-proclaimed hiatus did not last for long and she returned immediately to the music scene with her album, ‘Present Company’. The album however did not fare well.

Following the failure of her album, she moved to California to hone her writing skills. She re-emerged to the music scene three years later in 1974 with the album, ‘Stars’. The album contained the song, ‘Jesse’ which went on to become a Top 30 hit.

1975 proved to be a breakthrough year in her career as it witnessed the release of the album, ‘Between the Lines’. The album surpassed all her previous records to emerge as the most successful album of her career gaining a platinum status at the box office. It reached the number 1 status on Billboard's Album chart

The single from ‘Between the Lines’, ‘At Seventeen’ became a major hit and received wide critical and commercial acclaim. The song moved up the ladder to retain the number 3 spot at the Billboard Hot 100.

On the Adult Contemporary chart, ‘At Seventeen’ peaked at the number 1 status. The song even won her, her first Grammy Award. The same year, she performed the song on the debut of Saturday Night Live as a musical guest.

She immediately followed this up by releasing two more albums subsequently -‘Aftertones’ in 1976 and ‘Miracle Row’ in 1977. The albums though successful did not recreate the meteoric rise of her previous album.

While ‘Aftertones’ reached the number 12 status on US Billboard charts, ‘Miracle Row’ was placed at number 45. However in Japan, the albums fared much better. ‘Aftertones’ reached the number 1 status on Oricon's album chart, with its single ‘Love Is Blind’ being a blockbuster

In 1977, she came up with an anecdotal ‘On Valentine’s Day’ which again was very well received by the public and the critics alike.

In 1979, she came up with the single, ‘Fly Too High’. Produced by Giorgio Moroder, the song was featured in the Jodie Foster movie ‘Foxes’. It later became a part of her next released album, ‘Night Rains’. The song was much appreciated and even earned her a Grammy nomination

In 1980, she released the song, ‘You Are Love’ which went on to become a top 10 single on the Japanese Oricon charts. It was used as a theme song in Kinji Fukasaku's 1980 movie ‘Virus’

In 1981, she came up with her next album, ‘Restless Eyes’. Though the album received critical acclaim, it did not get commercial success. The same year, she came up with the single, ‘Under the Covers’ which reached the number 71 status at the pop charts.

Beginning 1982, she slowed down with her music albums and instead started concentrating on writing songs. She collaborated with various other artists like Kye Fleming, Amy Grant, Bette Midler and Marti Jones. She even pursued a career in acting and for the same took acting classes from Stella Adler.

In 1993, she re-emerged on the music scene with her album, ‘Breaking Silence’, which went on to make her one of the first ‘indie artists’. The album contained the title song about incest. The same year, she made an appearance in The Howard Stern Show, performing a newer version of the track ‘At Seventeen’.

Two years later, she came up with the album, ‘Revenge’ which explored the themes of prostitution and homelessness. She followed this up with the 1997 released album, ‘Hunger’ and 2000 released album ‘God & the FBI’.

‘Folk Is the New Black’ is her latest album released in 2006. The album was released jointly by the Rude Girl and Cooking Vinyl labels. For the album, she did the songwriting on her own, a feat she achieved after 20 years.

She has not limited her artistic abilities to songwriting and singing alone and has ventured into the arena of writing as well. A huge fan of science fiction, most of her works revolve around the same. Her short stories have been published in anthologies.

In 2003, along with Mike Resnick, she co-edited the anthology, ‘Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian’. From 1995 to 2003, she contributed a column in the magazine, Performing Songwriter. Furthermore, she contributes regularly for the LGBT news magazine, The Advocate.

In 2008, she penned and published her autobiography, ‘Society’s Child’. The book received much critical acclaim. The pack contained an Autobiographical CD as well which comprised of many of her hit and popular tracks.

Awards & Achievements

She won a Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance – Female in 1975 for her song, ‘At Seventeen’ from the album, ‘Between the Line’.

In 2001, ‘Society's Child’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings considered timeless and important to music history.

In 2013, she won her second Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word Album, for her autobiography, ‘Society's Child’.

Personal Life & Legacy

She first married Peter Cunningham, a photojournalist whom she met at a peace rally. The marriage, however, failed and she who had retired from music industry switched back to singing and songwriting.

In 1978, she married Portuguese filmmaker Tino Sargo but this alliance too did not work out and two separated in 1983.

In 1993, she let the world know of her sexual preferences as she claimed herself to be a lesbian. Ten years later, she tied the nuptial knot with Patricia Snyder in Toronto.

After the death of her mother, she auctioned all the belongings of the latter and used the money gained to establish a scholarship program under Pearl Foundation. The fund aims at providing scholarship funds to various educational institutions.

Trivia

This American singer-songwriter penned and published her autobiography, ‘Society’s Child’ for which she received Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word Album

// Famous Songwriters

Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell is an American singer and songwriter. Check out this biography to know about her childhood, family, personal life, birthday, etc.

Isac Elliot

Isac Elliot

Isac Elliot is a Finnish pop singer-songwriter and dancer. Let’s have a look at his family & personal life including age, date of birth, girlfriends, net worth, and fun facts.

Laura Marano

Laura Marano

Laura Marano is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Let’s have a look at her personal & family life including age, net worth, boyfriends, and fun facts.

Janis Ian's awards

YearNameAward

Grammy Awards

2013Best Spoken Word AlbumWinner

Janis Ian biography timelines

  • // 7th Apr 1951
    Janis Ian was born as Janis Eddy Fink to Victor and Pearl in New York City. His parents operated a summer camp in New York.
  • // 1965 To 1967
    Between 1965 and 1967, the song was released thrice. However, it was in its third release when Leonard Bernstein featured it in a CBS TV special titled Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution that the song went on to become a national hit.
  • // 1967 To 1969
    Following her debutant hit, she came up with three more albums simultaneously, ‘For All the Seasons of Your Mind’, ‘The Secret Life of J Eddy Fink’ and Who Really Cares’ in 1967, 1968 and 1969 respectively. She distributed the profits from the album to her friends and in charities.
  • // 1974
    Following the failure of her album, she moved to California to hone her writing skills. She re-emerged to the music scene three years later in 1974 with the album, ‘Stars’. The album contained the song, ‘Jesse’ which went on to become a Top 30 hit.
  • // 1975
    1975 proved to be a breakthrough year in her career as it witnessed the release of the album, ‘Between the Lines’. The album surpassed all her previous records to emerge as the most successful album of her career gaining a platinum status at the box office. It reached the number 1 status on Billboard's Album chart
  • // 1975
    She won a Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance – Female in 1975 for her song, ‘At Seventeen’ from the album, ‘Between the Line’.
  • // 1976 To 1977
    She immediately followed this up by releasing two more albums subsequently -‘Aftertones’ in 1976 and ‘Miracle Row’ in 1977. The albums though successful did not recreate the meteoric rise of her previous album.
  • // 1977
    In 1977, she came up with an anecdotal ‘On Valentine’s Day’ which again was very well received by the public and the critics alike.
  • // 1978 To 1983
    In 1978, she married Portuguese filmmaker Tino Sargo but this alliance too did not work out and two separated in 1983.
  • // 1979
    In 1979, she came up with the single, ‘Fly Too High’. Produced by Giorgio Moroder, the song was featured in the Jodie Foster movie ‘Foxes’. It later became a part of her next released album, ‘Night Rains’. The song was much appreciated and even earned her a Grammy nomination
  • // 1980
    In 1980, she released the song, ‘You Are Love’ which went on to become a top 10 single on the Japanese Oricon charts. It was used as a theme song in Kinji Fukasaku's 1980 movie ‘Virus’
  • // 1981
    In 1981, she came up with her next album, ‘Restless Eyes’. Though the album received critical acclaim, it did not get commercial success. The same year, she came up with the single, ‘Under the Covers’ which reached the number 71 status at the pop charts.
  • // 1982
    Beginning 1982, she slowed down with her music albums and instead started concentrating on writing songs. She collaborated with various other artists like Kye Fleming, Amy Grant, Bette Midler and Marti Jones. She even pursued a career in acting and for the same took acting classes from Stella Adler.
  • // 1993
    In 1993, she re-emerged on the music scene with her album, ‘Breaking Silence’, which went on to make her one of the first ‘indie artists’. The album contained the title song about incest. The same year, she made an appearance in The Howard Stern Show, performing a newer version of the track ‘At Seventeen’.
  • // 1993
    In 1993, she let the world know of her sexual preferences as she claimed herself to be a lesbian. Ten years later, she tied the nuptial knot with Patricia Snyder in Toronto.
  • // 1995 To 2000
    Two years later, she came up with the album, ‘Revenge’ which explored the themes of prostitution and homelessness. She followed this up with the 1997 released album, ‘Hunger’ and 2000 released album ‘God & the FBI’.
  • // 2001
    In 2001, ‘Society's Child’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings considered timeless and important to music history.
  • // 2003
    In 2003, along with Mike Resnick, she co-edited the anthology, ‘Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian’. From 1995 to 2003, she contributed a column in the magazine, Performing Songwriter. Furthermore, she contributes regularly for the LGBT news magazine, The Advocate.
  • // 2006
    ‘Folk Is the New Black’ is her latest album released in 2006. The album was released jointly by the Rude Girl and Cooking Vinyl labels. For the album, she did the songwriting on her own, a feat she achieved after 20 years.
  • // 2008
    In 2008, she penned and published her autobiography, ‘Society’s Child’. The book received much critical acclaim. The pack contained an Autobiographical CD as well which comprised of many of her hit and popular tracks.
  • // 2013
    In 2013, she won her second Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word Album, for her autobiography, ‘Society's Child’.

// Famous Singers

Isaak Presley

Isaak Presley

All about American actor and singer Isaak Presley including his age, birthday, family life, girlfriends, net worth, and some fun facts.

Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell is an American singer and songwriter. Check out this biography to know about her childhood, family, personal life, birthday, etc.

Sophia Montero

Sophia Montero

Sophia Montero is an American singer and YouTuber. Let’s have a look at her family and personal life including age, date of birth, net worth, relationships, and fun facts.

Zach Herron

Zach Herron

All about American singer and Instagram personality including his age, birthday, girlfriends, net worth, and some fun facts.

Devin Gordon

Devin Gordon

All about American Pop singer and internet celebrity Devin Gordon, including his age, birthday, family life, girlfriends, net worth, and some fun facts.

Omarion

Omarion

Omarion is an American singer, rapper, and actor. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about his life.

Janis Ian's FAQ

  • What is Janis Ian birthday?

    Janis Ian was born at 1951-04-07

  • Where is Janis Ian's birth place?

    Janis Ian was born in Bronx

  • What is Janis Ian nationalities?

    Janis Ian's nationalities is American

  • Who is Janis Ian spouses?

    Janis Ian's spouses is Patricia Snyder, Tino Sargo

  • Who is Janis Ian siblings?

    Janis Ian's siblings is Eric

  • Who is Janis Ian's father?

    Janis Ian's father is Victor

  • Who is Janis Ian's mother?

    Janis Ian's mother is Pearl

  • What is Janis Ian's sun sign?

    Janis Ian is Aries

  • How famous is Janis Ian?

    Janis Ian is famouse as Singer, Songwriter, Musician & Author