
Joan Baez is the real star of “A Complete Unknown”
Who she is, her relationship with Bob Dylan, and why Gen Z likes her
January 21st, 2025
Before Beyoncé and Taylor Swift ruled the world, there was Joan Baez. Let’s go back six decades. In front of us stands a young woman with long black hair, bare feet, a guitar in her arms, and an unmistakable warm and vibrant voice. Every time she takes the stage and begins to play, she captivates millions with her songs, blending traditional ballads, love, and civil protest. She enchants with her beauty, her bohemian looks, her love stories, but most of all with her lyrics and charisma. She did this throughout the '60s and '70s and still does today, at over eighty years old. She is known as the "barefoot Madonna", but in truth, she is the greatest folk singer in history.
At least in part, she is being introduced to an entire generation that previously didn’t know her through the biopic A Complete Unknown, about Bob Dylan, with Timothée Chalamet portraying the artist and Monica Barbaro as Baez.
Who is Joan Baez?
Joan Baez was born in Staten Island, New York, on January 9, 1941. She is the daughter of Joan Bridge, a Scottish literature professor, and Alberto Baez, a Mexican physicist renowned for co-inventing the X-ray microscope and refusing to participate in the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. Her father’s work for UNESCO forced the family to move often, both within the United States and to foreign countries like England, France, Spain, and Iraq. Joan grew up with a cosmopolitan outlook, witnessing poverty, social inequality, and discrimination firsthand—issues that would shape her art and inspire her activism. As a child, she learned to play the ukulele, and at 16, she bought her first guitar, an acoustic Gibson, for $50.
She was present at every major festival or event, ready to enchant crowds with her folk ballads and poignant lyrics. On August 28, 1963, she sang at the March on Washington, the same day Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his immortal "I Have a Dream" speech; she graced the stage at Woodstock alongside icons like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix; she protested against the Vietnam War, and her song We Shall Overcome became the anthem of student protests. She championed LGBTQ+ rights, prison reform, opposition to the Iraq War, and resistance to Trump-era policies. She co-founded several humanitarian organizations, including Amnesty International. Today, though primarily dedicated to painting, she continues to make her voice heard through Instagram. Her legendary love stories include her ex-husband David Harris, with whom she shares a son, Steve Jobs, whom she dated when she was 41 and he was 27, and her tumultuous relationship with Bob Dylan.
Joan Baez and Bob Dylan: A Story of Love and Music
A Complete Unknown also delves into the love story between Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, though it contains inaccuracies, such as their alleged duet at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, which never happened since they were already parting ways at the time. What really happened? It was 1961 at Gerde’s Folk City in New York’s Greenwich Village. Joan, already a rising folk star at 20, crossed paths with Robert Allen Zimmerman, an unkempt, aloof contemporary who called himself Bob Dylan. At first glance, she thought he was an "original vagabond" or maybe an "urban hillbilly." Baez recalled to Rolling Stone in 1983, "Someone said, 'Oh, you have to come hear this guy, he’s amazing.' So I went with my very, very jealous boyfriend, and we saw this scruffy, pale, dirty little human stand up in front of the crowd and sing his Song to Woody. I, of course, melted inside, because he was so beautiful, but I couldn't say anything, because my very jealous boyfriend was glaring at me. Then Bob came up and said, 'Uhhh, hi' in this eloquent way, and I just thought he was brilliant, extraordinary, and so on."
@hey_marianne Bob Dylan and Joan Baez Part 1 #bobdylan #joanbaez #heymarianne #60smusic #greenscreen Acoustic Folk Instrumental - Yunusta
She recognized his talent immediately and fell in love—with him and his music. From small folk venues in Greenwich Village, she brought him onstage to perform for her already vast audience, encouraged him to address political and social themes, and sang his songs, including the iconic Blowin' in the Wind. Together, they were dazzling. They were different but connected, inspiring each other with their talent, love for music, and political and social activism. Their relationship, however, ended in 1965. While touring together, tensions arose due to his aloofness and her desire to see him more involved in activism. The final straw? Joan returned to her hotel room to find Sarah Lownds, a Playboy bunny and Dylan's future wife.
The two parted ways but continued to write songs about each other. Dylan is believed to have drawn inspiration from Baez for Like a Rolling Stone and Visions of Johanna, while she wrote To Bobby, Winds of the Old Days, and her masterpiece, Diamonds & Rust. Over the years, Joan and Bob occasionally reunited for live performances but severed ties entirely after a European stadium tour with Carlos Santana in 1984. Reflecting on their shared time, Joan said: "He was a genius. He represented everything I loved. He was a boy when we met, and he seemed very messed up. Hurt. We had wounds that complemented each other. You're not even aware of it when it happens, but looking back, you choose someone because of something intangible that strikes you." In another interview, after admitting he broke her heart, Baez expressed gratitude for their time together, saying she had abandoned all resentment: "I'm glad I was there when I was. I'm glad I got to sing his songs. And I'm happy to be associated with him for the rest of my life."
@cowboykill3r u r not misunderstood u r misleading women! in this house we play the joan version #bobdylan #joanbaez #acompleteunknown #itaintmebabe It Ain’t Me Babe (Live in London 1965) (Live in Shepherds Bush London 5th June 1965 Remastered) - Joan Baez
@lyndamariebby her & bobby being the og situationship #joadbaez #bobdylan #acompleteunknown It Ain’t Me Babe (Live in London 1965) (Live in Shepherds Bush London 5th June 1965 Remastered) - Joan Baez
@redandtherebels Replying to @user17282987 #greenscreen she’s just brilliant tbh I adore Joan Baez #joanbaez #bobdylan #classicrock #70smusic #60smusic #folkmusic #folksinger #classicrock Diamonds And Rust - Joan Baez
Why Joan Baez Appeals to Gen Z
Unsurprisingly, the release of A Complete Unknown has sparked curiosity about Bob Dylan, his music, and his style, creating a trend known as Dylan Core, where young people emulate the musician's look and pose from the iconic The Freewheelin’ album cover. Perhaps less expected is the interest in Joan Baez, particularly her complicated love story with Dylan. Gen Z seems to see Baez as "yet another woman who emerged from the shadow of a terrible alternative boy with a guitar." After all, who hasn't fallen for a charming, aloof, and talented musician, supported and loved him, only to discover that he had other girls or didn't show the same devotion and respect he received? On TikTok, videos analyzing the couple's Newport performance of It Ain’t Me Babe abound. Users describe their relationship as "the OG situationship," identify with Joan, and praise her. "She couldn’t let him go, even though she knew he wasn't good for her. This is so real. It's happening to girls everywhere—and it was happening in the '60s?” says @lyndamariebby. "I love Joan Baez because I too have had a loser male musician who bares a striking resemblance to Timothée Chalamet use our situationship as character development and steal parts of my unique and lovely personality as content for his music career" reads the caption of a TikTok where a woman lip-syncs Baez singing Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe.
@abbydijon The way they each interpret songs is just different ig #bobdylan #joanbaez #acompleteunknown original sound - Sound of Jay
@marlene.ramir She read him for filth <3
Diamonds And Rust - Joan Baez
"No way could I date a pre-fame Bob Dylan, launch his career and then be done dirty, tossed aside. I would never shut up about it" confesses @hey_marrianne. Many creators express solidarity with Baez, hailing her as a "true baddie Latina icon" for leaving Dylan and forging her own path. The singer of Diamonds & Rust has become a symbol of a woman who stood out and achieved her goals despite a patriarchal society, the misogyny of the music industry, and a toxic relationship.