JANIS IAN

Janis Ian is a songwriter’s songwriter. She began writing songs at 12 years of age and performed onstage at New York’s Village Gate just one year later. Her first record, “Society’s Child”, was released two years after that. Stardom followed, despite the onslaught of venom that the controversial subject matter of interracial relationships inflamed. Janis has always followed her heart and her soul so controversy has never been a stranger. Her life and career are unique and full, yet equally fraught by challenges she conquered, as detailed in her autobiography “Society’s Child”, a starred Booklist review and Publisher’s Weekly pick (and now also available as an audio book). Songs like “Jesse” and “Some People’s Lives” have been recorded by artists as diverse as Celine Dion, John Mellencamp, Mel Torme, Glen Campbell, and Bette Midler. The seminal “At Seventeen” brought her five of her nine Grammy nominations. These are just a few of the songs that formed the soundtrack of our lives and continue to impact a new generation. Her song “Stars” is also the title of an antholology featuring 24 major science fiction writers, all of them “tipping the hat” by writing original stories based on songs Janis wrote that affected their own life. Tina Fey even named a character “Janis Ian” in her movie Mean Girls! Her energy does not stop at performing. She runs The Pearl Foundation, named for her mother, and has raised over $650,000 for scholarships for returning students at various universities and colleges.