Since the debut of her first hit song Society’s Child in 1966, Janice Ian has continuously left her indelible mark on her fans, her friends and the world in general through songs like Jesse, Seventeen and Stars.
The iconic, openly lesbian singer, songwriter and author will perform at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on May 21 and 22 and at Orlando’s Plaza Theatre on May 24.
Born in 1951 to a Jewish family, Janis Eddy Fink spent most of her early years moving around New Jersey and attending the summer camp run by her left-wing, Folk music-loving parents Victor and Pearl. It was here that Janis first developed a love for singing and songwriting that would change her life. It was also a time when people like the Finks were watched carefully and often followed by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI in an attempt to flush out those suspected of being un-American.
Growing up with parents that were just as likely to take her and her younger brother to peace marches as they were to have them assist in stuffing envelopes for a cause they believed in definitely contributed to the woman that Ian became.
Never one to conform to what society deemed normal, Ian wrote her first song at 12. In the mid-1960s, when Ian was 15, she had her first hit with the controversial song Society’s Child, a song about the relationship between a white girl and a black boy and the reactions of their friends and families. The song became a hit despite the constant death threats Ian received and protestors who would infiltrate her concerts and shout “N-r lover, n-r lover” whenever she performed the song.
Today’s youth is populated with teen rock stars like Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. But Ian believes today’s young stars are more prepped and groomed for the stage than she was in her younger years.
“Most of the young stars now, or most of the ones that I’m aware of, are pretty much pre-manufactured,” says Ian. “They have huge groups around them making sure that they do the right thing and get the right music and get the right exposure. My generation was pretty different and I’m not aware of anyone who is in the age group I was in who is writing. When I was doing it, it was a pretty small group. It was Stevie Wonder and me and that was pretty much it.”
One thing that has stayed the same for almost a half-century is the media’s lust for the specifics of the private lives of celebrities. Although she was outed in 1977 by the Village Voice, Ian refused to confirm or deny that she was a lesbian even though those closest to her had known she was gay for years. She had relationships with both men and women and was even married to a man for seven years until she left the abusive relationship.
Ian has some wisdom of her own to impart to today’s up-and-coming singer/songwriters who may be struggling with whether or not to come out publicly.
“Don’t make it be your whole life but have it be a part of your life because it’s part of what you are,” suggests Ian. “You can’t be in two places at once, you know. If you try to have a life and conceal a large part of it you’ll wind up going crazy. We’ve all seen that.”
Although she was somewhat ambiguous about her own sexuality in the 1970s, that didn’t stop Ian from supporting the gay community in other ways. Ian was one of the early investors in New York’s famed St. Mark’s Baths, an upscale bathhouse for gay men that also helped launch the careers of Bette Midler and her pianist Barry Manilow.
Owned and operated by Ian’s friend Bruce Mailman, the St. Marks Baths provided gay men with a playground for the senses and, in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, somewhere to get condoms and education on what many back then were referring to as the “gay plague.”
“The St. Marks Bath was more of a financial issue and my friend Bruce was creating it and it seemed like a good investment,” Ian says. “The AIDS crisis was completely different as that was something where it was very important that people take a stand and that people help one another. It became horribly apparent that it was, in many ways, going to be up to gay women because the gay men were dropping like flies.
“That was more about responding in a responsible manner to the crisis even before we knew what it was or had a name for it. That’s giving back and that’s responsible business ownership to me. You don’t own a business that may be contributing to a crisis without confronting it. You don’t stick your head in the sand. People do but I don’t. I try not to anyway.”
Ian was also one of the first performers to go out and play fundraisers in the early days of the AIDS crisis and even took to the streets when the marches started in protest to the lackluster response to the epidemic by the government.
Surprisingly, and by her own choice, Ian spent a good portion of the 1980s and early 1990s without a record deal but continued to write songs that were recorded by everyone from Amy Grant to Bette Midler. With the release of Breaking Silence in 1993, Ian resurfaced and also came out publicly as lesbian and introduced the world to her partner, Patricia Snyder.
Ian and Snyder, a defense attorney, decided to make it official with a wedding ceremony in Toronto, Canada in August 2003. Ian doesn’t think that there’s a secret to having a happy, long-term relationship, gay or straight, but that there are a few key ingredients to making any worthwhile relationship last.
“It’s just making any relationship last takes patience and the ability to compromise,” she says. “Straight couples have to deal with different things, you know, like a black-white couple or one with a 20-year age difference or one with a disabled child.
“Things are pretty much universal and everybody’s got something. If it’s not that you’re gay it’s that your parents don’t like your spouse or your spouse doesn’t like your cousins. Whatever, we’ve all got roads to hoe.”
Despite being an American lesbian who had to cross this country’s borders to legally wed her partner, Ian remains optimistic about the fight for marriage equality in the United States. With states like Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut and now Maine making same-sex marriage legal, Ian finds encouragement and even has a few ideas on how to alleviate some of the fears that are wide-spread in the institutions that would seek to deny the LGBT community equal rights.
“I think it’s great but I wish that we’d find another word like a civil marriage as opposed to just marriage that would relieve some of that fear,” says Ian. “But I think it’s pretty amazing, what’s going on right now. I would never have dreamed that something like this could happen in my lifetime.”
When she is not touring, Ian enjoys living the quiet life with Snyder at their home in Nashville, where Ian remains an integral part of the city’s thriving songwriting community.
One of Ian’s biggest passions, aside from music, is working on The Pearl Foundation, a charity created in memory of her mother. The foundation funds scholarships for returning students who have the desire but not the finances to continue their education. To date, the foundation has raised more than $300,000 through online auctions, living room concerts and private donations.
“We send people back to school who’ve been out of school more than five years and try and provide scholarships for the people who traditionally would not be as eligible or attractive as scholarship students,” says Ian.
Ian holds firm the belief that giving back is the responsibility of anyone who is able to do just that. She is also a staunch supporter of LGBT civil rights and is not shy about encouraging others to do what they can for the causes they believe in.
“Its part of giving back and I think it’s really important when you’ve been given a lot, to give some of that back,” says Ian.
Ian has also broken into writing. In 2003 she co-edited and contributed a short story to Stars: Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian, a science fiction anthology. She continues to write science fiction and was also a columnist for the Advocate. In 2008, Ian published Society’s Child, her autobiography which drew much critical acclaim and gave the world an unobstructed look at her life.
Ian continues to write, record and tour, never forgetting the thrill that can come with performing to a live audience.
So what can audiences expect to hear from the woman whose career has spanned almost five decades?
“A combination of the old and the new,” she says. “Of course, Seventeen and songs like that. They’d be totally ripped if I didn’t do those. I also encourage people to bring their old vinyl or CDs for signing if they want to stay after the shows. It should be fun.”
See + Hear
WHO: Janis Ian
WHEN: Thursday, May 21 and Friday, May 22 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.
Sunday, May 24 at The Plaza Theatre in Orlando.
TICKETS: RuthEckerdHall.com or ThePlazaTheatre.com
