The couple evolved from stage collaborators to romantic partners. Their relationship ultimately only lasted a short time, but it had a lasting impact on both of their careers and continues to fascinate music fans to this day.

Baez was already a star before he met Dylan

At the time of the events in A complete unknownBaez had already established himself as a key figure in the emerging folk music scene. Her breakthrough came in 1959 at the Newport Folk Festival, where her duets with Bob Gibson thrilled the audience and helped the then 18-year-old Baez get a record deal. Each of their first three albums went gold.

Joan Baez performs in 1960, a year after her breakthrough performance at the Newport Music Festival.

Baez was on tour in 1961 when someone recommended that she hear a “great” new singer at Gerde’s Folk City, a music venue in New York’s Greenwich Village. And so she and her boyfriend at the time met Dylan, whose real name was Robert Zimmerman, and his “Song to Woody”.

“Of course I’m completely devastated inside because it was so beautiful,” said Baez Rolling Stone in 1983. “But I couldn’t say anything because I was standing next to my very, very jealous boyfriend who was watching me out of the corner of his eye, trying to mentally butcher Dylan, I think. And then Bob came over and said, “Uhhh, hello” – one of those eloquent greetings – and I just thought he was brilliant and great and so on.”

Soon after, Baez invited Dylan to appear as an opening act and duet partner on her tour. Baez was still the bigger name – he even appeared on the cover of ” Time magazine – but her new protégé was on his way to stardom.

Dylan dated Suze Rotolo before Baez

Although Dylan and Baez had an immediate connection, their relationship did not initially extend beyond music. One reason for this is that Dylan already had a partner at this point.

In 1961, the singer met Suzie Rotolo during a folk music festival in New York City. “She was the sexiest thing I had ever seen,” Dylan wrote of Rotolo. “She was fair-skinned and golden-haired, a full-blooded Italian… We started talking and my heart started spinning.”

Rotolo – whose name was changed to Sylvie Russo in 2011 A complete unknown– became known as the singer’s muse and inspired some of his early songs, including “One Too Many Mornings” and “Tomorrow Is a Long Time.” She even appeared with him on the cover of his 1963 album. Bob Dylan on the loose.

Suze Rotolo appears with Bob Dylan on the cover of his 1963 album Bob Dylan on the loose.

But as Dylan’s fame grew, Rotolo became increasingly annoyed by her image as a mere accessory or, as she once wrote, “a string on his guitar.” After their six-month trip to study art at the University of Perugia in Italy, their relationship quickly deteriorated. Accordingly The New York TimesRotolo moved out of her apartment with Dylan in August 1963 and, after finding out she was pregnant, underwent an illegal abortion.

By this point, Dylan and Baez had already begun their affair and established their reign as dominant voices in folk music.

Baez called their relationship “completely demoralizing”

Following the release of his aforementioned 1963 album, Dylan quickly became a national name as he continued to perform with Baez. In addition to their talent, Dylan and Baez also shared their openness about social issues. This is exemplified by their performances at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963 – the occasion for Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech – which only increased Dylan’s notoriety.

Dylan goes electric! by Elijah Wald

But in 1965, Dylan began to move away from protest anthems towards more mainstream genres such as pop and rock. His growing fame put additional strain on his relationship with Baez. “I think his fame came so quickly and it was so big that I kind of got lost in the shuffle,” she said.

While the couple separated after Dylan’s tour of the United Kingdom in 1965, Baez’s final heartbreak came later that year. In November, Dylan quietly married Sara Lownds, who is pregnant with his first child.

Decades later, in 2023, Baez described their relationship as “completely demoralizing” but acknowledged that many factors contributed to its failure. “We were in our early 20s. We were stupid, and you can’t blame anyone forever,” she said.

Their romance inspired several songs

Bob Dylan plays the piano during a 1965 recording.

Although their relationship was finally over, it was clear through their music that Dylan and Baez had lingering emotions within them.

In 1972, the protest-oriented Baez released the bluntly-named single “To Bobby” on her LP Come out of the shadows. As Dylan recalled in his 2004 memoir, the song urged him to return to the politically oriented music that had made him so popular and to “come out and take on the responsibility of leading the masses – of being an advocate, to lead the crusade.”

Three years later, Baez took a more reflective approach with Diamonds and Rust, which focused squarely on their relationship. Dylan loved the song and even invited Baez to join him on his Rolling Thunder Revue tour, it is said Rolling Stone.

Although Dylan kept much of his music secret, Baez believes it at least partially inspired his 1965 songs “Like a Rolling Stone” and 1966’s “Visions of Johanna.” Proof of the latter lies in a cryptic text: “And Madonna, she still hasn’t shown herself.” Accordingly Far Out Magazineea writer at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival, called Baez the “barefoot Madonna,” a reference to her lack of footwear during performances and the spiritual themes in her music.

Dylan neither confirmed nor denied the speculation, which continues to fuel the intrigue behind both songs to this day. Rolling Stone “Like a Rolling Stone” was named the best song of all time in 2010, and a handwritten draft of Dylan’s lyrics sold for more than $2 million in 2014.

Baez and Dylan did not stay in touch

Dylan, now 83, is considered one of the greatest singers of all genres. According to the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he has released more than 50 albums and written more than 6,000 songs. The 11-time Grammy winner also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2012 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016.

Baez’s career may not have been quite as extensive, but it was impressive in its own right. Also 83, she released more than 30 albums when she retired from touring in 2019 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Away from the stage and studio, they both married, divorced – Dylan twice – and became parents. Dylan is a father of six children, while Baez has a son.

As for their relationship with each other, Baez said People In 2023, the couple never really got back together. Still, she revealed she found “complete forgiveness” after painting a portrait of the singer in his youth. “I put on his music and I just burst into tears. When I finished the painting, I no longer felt any animosity. None. “It stayed that way,” Baez said.

Dylan has also spoken kindly about Baez, praising his former collaborator during a speech at the 2015 MusiCares Gala. “Joan Baez is as stubborn as they come. As a truly independent spirit, no one can tell her what to do if she doesn’t want to,” he said. “I learned a lot from her. For her kind of love and dedication, I could never repay that.”

Now a new generation of music fans will experience their unforgettable partnership through the new film.

See A complete unknown now in the cinema

He is no stranger to music biographies – he directed the films back in 2005 Walk along the line about Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash – Director James Mangold met with Bob Dylan several times before production began. Accordingly Rolling StoneThe singer had significant influence on the film’s script and personally insisted on fictional adaptations, including changes to Rotolo’s name and backstory.

Meanwhile, actress Monica Barbaro nervously spoke to Baez and was relieved to receive her blessing. “She’s Joan. She’s not so much concerned with protecting (her legacy) or hovering over it. She signed her songs (for the film) and all her arrangements,” Barbaro said The Hollywood Reporter. “She and Bob are kind of similar in that they’re not as obsessed with dictating the idea of ​​who they are and who they were.”

You can see her modern take on Dylan and Baez’s relationship A complete unknown now in the cinema. The film stars Timotheé Chalamet and Barbaro as the two singers, along with Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo.

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Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com Associate News Editor and is now News and Culture Editor. Previously, he worked as a reporter and editor for an Associated Press Sports Editors-approved daily newspaper. In his current role, he tells the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles up-and-coming musicians, actors and athletes. When he’s not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater cheering on his favorite teams.