Judy Collins

Biography

Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records (which has included folk music, country, show tunes, pop music, rock and roll and standards), for her social activism, and for the clarity of her voice. Her discography consists of 36 studio albums, nine live albums, numerous compilation albums, four holiday albums, and 21 singles.
Collins' debut studio album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow×A Maid of Constant Sorrow1961 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Maid of Constant Sorrow2:32A2The Prickle Bush3:25A3Wild Mountain Thyme2:33A4Tim Evans2:50A5Sailor's Life2:42A6Bold Fenian Men2:51B1Wars of High Germany3:08B2O Daddy Be Gay2:34B3I Know Where I'm Going1:50B4John Riley3:34B5Pretty Saro3:03B6The Rising of the Moon4:04, was released in 1961 and consisted of traditional folk songs. She had her first charting single with "Hard Lovin' Loser" (No. 97) from her fifth studio album In My Life×In My Life1966 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Tom Thumb's Blues5:032Hard Lovin' Loser2:373Pirate Jenny4:024Suzanne4:215La Colombe5:036Marat/Sade5:337I Think It's Going to Rain Today2:468Sunny Goodge Street2:559Liverpool Lullaby2:5710Dress Rehearsal Rag5:1911In My Life2:53 (1966), but it was the lead single from her sixth studio album Wildflowers×Wildflowers1967 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Michael From Mountains3:122Since You Asked2:353Sisters of Mercy2:344Priests4:575Lasso! di donna4:376Both Sides Now3:177La chanson des vieux amants4:408Sky Fell1:509Albatross4:5310Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye3:33 (1967), "Both Sides, Now" – written by Joni Mitchell – that gave her international prominence. The single reached No. 8 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and won Collins her first Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance. She enjoyed further success with her recordings of "Someday Soon", "Chelsea Morning" (also written by Mitchell), "Amazing Grace×Amazing Grace1985 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Amazing Grace3:542Day by Day3:153Bridge Over Troubled Water4:334I Don't Know How to Love Him3:515Both Sides Now3:326Abide With Me3:067Just a Closer Walk With Thee3:278When You Wish Upon a Star2:489When a Child Is Born3:2410The Rose5:0811One Day at a Time3:4612Oh Happy Day3:3213Morning Has Broken2:4914Send in the Clowns4:0815The Lord Is My Shepherd2:4516Jerusalem2:19", "Turn! Turn! Turn!", and "Cook with Honey".
Collins experienced the biggest success of her career with her recording of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns×Send in the Clowns1975 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Send in the Clowns4:012Houses4:40" from her tenth studio album Judith×Judith1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress3:04A2Angel, Spread Your Wings3:11A3Houses4:39A4The Lovin' of the Game3:06A5Song for Duke3:38A6Send in the Clowns4:02B1Salt of the Earth4:03B2Brother, Can You Spare a Dime3:17B3City of New Orleans4:14B4I'll Be Seeing You3:47B5Pirate Ships2:56B6Born to the Breed4:47 (1975). The single peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1975 and then again in 1977 at No. 19, spending 27 non-consecutive weeks on the chart and earning her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, as well as a Grammy Award for Sondheim for Song of the Year. Judith also became her best-selling studio album; it was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1975 for sales of over 500,000 copies and Platinum in 1996 for sales of over 1,000,000 copies.
In 2017, Collins' rendition of the song "Amazing Grace" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". That same year, she received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Folk Album for Silver Skies Blue×Silver Skies Blue3 June 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Drifting Away3:192I Choose Love3:023Silver Skies Blue3:074The Weight3:175Slow Burn3:176Let You In3:587Run4:158Aberdeen4:399Elena3:3310Secret Harbor4:3311Home Before Dark3:3612Strangers Again4:41 with Ari Hest. In 2019 at the age of 80, she scored her first No. 1 album on an American Billboard chart with Winter Stories×Winter Stories29 November 2019 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Northwest Passage4:572Mountain Girl4:453Winter Stories4:434Bury Me with My Guitar On3:015River4:006Sweet Refrain4:167The Fallow Way4:038Angels in the Snow5:139Highwayman3:4210Frozen North4:3511The Blizzard6:05, a duet album with Norwegian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jonas Fjeld featuring Chatham County Line. In 2022, she released her first studio album of all original material, titled Spellbound×Spellbound25 February 2022 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Spellbound3:372Grand Canyon3:363So Alive4:574Hell On Wheels3:035Shipwrecked Mariner3:596When I Was A Girl In Colorado5:007Thomas Merton4:488Wild With Mist3:169Gilded Rooms5:0410Prarie Dream5:1011City Of Awakening3:2712Arizona5:5713The Blizzard6:06, and it earned her another Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album.

Early life

Collins was born on May 1, 1939, the eldest of five siblings, in Seattle where she lived for the first ten years of her life. Her father, Charles "Chuck" Collins (a blind singer, pianist, and radio show host) took a job in Denver in 1949 and the family moved there. Her grandfather on her father's side was Irish.
Judy Collins contracted polio at the age of 11 and spent two months in isolation in a hospital. She grew up listening to the traditional Irish music her father sang. She did not know what folk music was when she was young. She said, "I just thought it was probably Rodgers and Hart. Those were the songs he [her father] sang on the radio. I didn't understand until I discovered "The Gypsy Rover" and "Barbara Allen" when I was 15. I didn't realize I had been singing "Danny Boy" all of that time... "Danny Boy" was a folk song."

Beginnings

Collins studied classical piano with Antonia Brico, making her public debut at age 13 performing Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos. She also played Chopin, Debussy, and Rachmaninoff as a child. Brico took a dim view of her developing interest in folk music, which led her to the difficult decision to discontinue her piano lessons. Years later, after she became known internationally, she invited Brico to one of her concerts in Denver. When they met after the performance, Brico took both of Collins' hands into hers, looked wistfully at her fingers and said, "Little Judy—you really could have gone places." Still later, she discovered that Brico herself had made a living when she was younger playing jazz and ragtime piano (Singing Lessons, pp. 71–72).
In her early life, Collins met many professional musicians through her father.
It was the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and the traditional songs of the folk revival of the early 1960s, however, that kindled Collins' interest and awoke in her a love for lyrics. Three years after her debut as a piano prodigy, she was playing guitar. Her first public appearances as a folk artist after her graduation from Denver's East High School were at Michael's Pub in Boulder, Colorado and the folk club Exodus in Denver. Her music became popular at the University of Connecticut, where her husband taught. She performed at parties and for the campus radio station along with David Grisman and Tom Azarian.

1960s

Collins eventually made her way to Greenwich Village, New York City where she played in clubs like Gerde's Folk City until she signed with Elektra Records, a label she was associated with for 35 years. In 1961, she released her debut studio album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow×A Maid of Constant Sorrow1961 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Maid of Constant Sorrow2:32A2The Prickle Bush3:25A3Wild Mountain Thyme2:33A4Tim Evans2:50A5Sailor's Life2:42A6Bold Fenian Men2:51B1Wars of High Germany3:08B2O Daddy Be Gay2:34B3I Know Where I'm Going1:50B4John Riley3:34B5Pretty Saro3:03B6The Rising of the Moon4:04, at age 22.
At first, Collins sang traditional folk songs or songs written by others–in particular the protest songwriters of the time, such as Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, and Bob Dylan. She recorded her own versions of important songs from the period, such as Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!". She was also instrumental in bringing little-known musicians to a wider public. For example, she recorded songs by Canadian poet Leonard Cohen, who became a close friend over the years. She also recorded songs by singer-songwriters such as Eric Andersen, Fred Neil, Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Robin Williamson, and Richard Fariña long before they gained national acclaim.

Collins' first few studio albums consisted of straightforward guitar-based folk songs, but with her fifth studio album In My Life×In My Life1966 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Tom Thumb's Blues5:032Hard Lovin' Loser2:373Pirate Jenny4:024Suzanne4:215La Colombe5:036Marat/Sade5:337I Think It's Going to Rain Today2:468Sunny Goodge Street2:559Liverpool Lullaby2:5710Dress Rehearsal Rag5:1911In My Life2:53 (1966), she began branching out to include works from such diverse sources as the Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Jacques Brel, and Kurt Weill. Mark Abramson produced and Joshua Rifkin arranged the album, adding lush orchestration to many of the numbers. The album was a major departure for a folk artist and set the course for Collins' subsequent work over the next decade.
With her sixth studio album Wildflowers×Wildflowers1967 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Michael From Mountains3:122Since You Asked2:353Sisters of Mercy2:344Priests4:575Lasso! di donna4:376Both Sides Now3:177La chanson des vieux amants4:408Sky Fell1:509Albatross4:5310Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye3:33 (1967), also produced by Abramson and arranged by Rifkin, Collins began to record her own compositions, beginning with "Since You Asked". The album also provided her with a major hit and a Grammy Award in Mitchell's "Both Sides, Now", which in December 1968 reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, later (February 1970) reaching No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart.
Collins' seventh studio album Who Knows Where the Time Goes×Who Knows Where the Time Goes1968 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Hello, Hooray4:11A2Story of Isaac3:31A3My Father5:01A4Someday Soon3:44A5Who Knows Where the Time Goes4:45B1Poor Immigrant4:08B2First Boy I Loved7:29B3Bird on the Wire4:38B4Pretty Polly5:49 (1968) was produced by David Anderle, and featured back-up guitar by Stephen Stills (of Crosby, Stills & Nash), with whom she was romantically involved at the time. (She was the inspiration for Stills's CSN classic "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes".) Time Goes had a mellow country sound and included Ian Tyson's "Someday Soon" and the title track, written by the UK singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. The album also featured Collins' composition "My Father" and one of the first covers of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on the Wire".

Two of Collins' songs ("Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" composed by Sandy Denny and "Albatross") were featured in the 1968 film The Subject Was Roses.

1970s

By the 1970s, Collins had a solid reputation as an art song singer and folk singer and had begun to stand out for her own compositions. She also performed a broad range of material: her songs from this period included the traditional Christian hymn "Amazing Grace×Amazing Grace1985 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Amazing Grace3:542Day by Day3:153Bridge Over Troubled Water4:334I Don't Know How to Love Him3:515Both Sides Now3:326Abide With Me3:067Just a Closer Walk With Thee3:278When You Wish Upon a Star2:489When a Child Is Born3:2410The Rose5:0811One Day at a Time3:4612Oh Happy Day3:3213Morning Has Broken2:4914Send in the Clowns4:0815The Lord Is My Shepherd2:4516Jerusalem2:19", the Stephen Sondheim Broadway ballad "Send in the Clowns×Send in the Clowns1975 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Send in the Clowns4:012Houses4:40" (both of which were top 20 hits as singles in both the U.S. and the U.K.), a recording of Joan Baez's "A Song for David", and her own compositions, such as "Born to the Breed".
In 1971, Collins released her second live album, Living×Living1971 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Joan of Arc5:552Four Strong Winds3:453Vietnam Love Song3:564Innisfree3:165Song for Judith (Open the Door)4:056All Things Are Quite Silent2:477Easy Times3:258Chelsea Morning3:159Blue Raincoat5:3410Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues6:45 and the compilation album Colors of the Day: The Best of Judy Collins×Colors of the Day: The Best of Judy Collins1972 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Someday Soon3:482Since You Asked2:363Both Sides Now3:164Sons Of2:265Suzanne4:266Farewell to Tarwathie5:357Who Knows Where the Time Goes4:448Sunny Goodge Street3:009My Father5:0510Albatross4:5711In My Life2:5712Amazing Grace4:07 followed a year later. Collins' contemplative ninth studio album True Stories and Other Dreams (1973) featured an original song about a friend who took his own life ("Song for Martin") and another about the life of Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara ("Che"). For her tenth studio album Judith×Judith1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress3:04A2Angel, Spread Your Wings3:11A3Houses4:39A4The Lovin' of the Game3:06A5Song for Duke3:38A6Send in the Clowns4:02B1Salt of the Earth4:03B2Brother, Can You Spare a Dime3:17B3City of New Orleans4:14B4I'll Be Seeing You3:47B5Pirate Ships2:56B6Born to the Breed4:47 (1975), Collins collaborated with producer Arif Mardin and produced her biggest hit single with her reflective version of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns". It became her best-selling record, eventually going platinum.
As Collins stepped up to a higher level of stardom, the longtime activist put political themes at the forefront of her eleventh studio album Bread and Roses (1976). Political statements like the title song, originally a poem by James Oppenheim commonly associated with a 1912 garment workers strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, were balanced with such pop compositions as Elton John's "Come Down in Time", but the album failed to achieve the commercial success of Judith. Following the release of the album, Collins underwent treatment for damaged vocal cords, and after years of struggling with alcoholism, she sought medical help to give up drinking. Her compilation album So Early in the Spring... The First 15 Years (1977) sold modestly.

Collins guest starred on The Muppet Show in an episode broadcast in January 1978, singing "Leather-Winged Bat", "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", "Do-Re-Mi", and "Send in the Clowns". She also appeared several times on Sesame Street, where she performed "Fishermen's Song" with a chorus of Anything Muppet fishermen, sang a trio with Biff and Sully using the word "yes", and starred in a modern musical fairy tale skit called "The Sad Princess". In 1979, Collins released her twelfth studio album Hard Times for Lovers×Hard Times for Lovers1979 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Hard Times for Lovers3:572Marie3:123Happy End3:124Desperado3:345I Remember Sky4:006Starmaker4:297Dorothy4:378The Promise3:419Ice Castles3:2810Where or When3:38, a pop-oriented album in the same vein as Judith; she gained some extra publicity with the cover sleeve photograph of her in the nude.

1980s

Running for My Life (1980) and Times of Our Lives (1982) were well-crafted exercises in adult pop and soft rock, but as tastes changed, Collins' sales were on the decline. Home Again (1984) found her exploring some new musical avenues, including a synth-based cover of Yaz's "Only You" and a duet with country star T. G. Sheppard on the title cut. While the "Home Again×Home Again1 June 1984 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Only You3:262Sweetheart on Parade4:453Everybody Works in China4:274Yellow Kimono5:015From Where I Stand3:416Home Again3:417Shoot First6:158Don't Say Love4:129Dream On4:2410The Best is Yet to Come2:43" single was a minor hit, the album was not, and after 23 years, Collins and Elektra parted ways. She performed the music for the 1983 animated television special The Magic of Herself the Elf, as well as the theme song of the Rankin/Bass Productions television film The Wind in the Willows.

Collins traveled to England in 1985 and struck a one-off deal with Telstar Records to record the studio album Amazing Grace×Amazing Grace1985 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Amazing Grace3:542Day by Day3:153Bridge Over Troubled Water4:334I Don't Know How to Love Him3:515Both Sides Now3:326Abide With Me3:067Just a Closer Walk With Thee3:278When You Wish Upon a Star2:489When a Child Is Born3:2410The Rose5:0811One Day at a Time3:4612Oh Happy Day3:3213Morning Has Broken2:4914Send in the Clowns4:0815The Lord Is My Shepherd2:4516Jerusalem2:19, in which she re-recorded several of her better-known songs with an inspirational bent. In 1987, she signed with the independent Gold Castle label, and her first studio album for them, Trust Your Heart×Trust Your Heart1987 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Trust Your Heart3:242Amazing Grace3:523Jerusalem2:214Day by Day3:135The Life You Dream5:536The Rose5:077Moonfall3:328Morning Has Broken2:509When a Child Is Born3:2410When You Wish Upon a Star2:45, which collected seven tracks from Amazing Grace and added three new selections. That same year, she released her first memoir, Trust Your Heart.
In 1989, Collins released two albums: a live disc titled Sanity and Grace×Sanity and Grace1989 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1History3:492Wind Beneath My Wings4:513Lovin' and Leavin'3:544From A Distance4:195Sanity and Grace5:046Daughters of Time4:127Cats in the Cradle3:498Pretty Polly8:459Born to the Breed4:37, and a collaboration with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, Innervoices.

1990s

In 1990, Collins released her eighteenth studio album Fires of Eden×Fires of EdenSeptember 1990 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1The Blizzard7:312Fortune of Soldiers4:173Test of Time5:134Fires of Eden4:215Home Before Dark4:336The Air That I Breathe4:247City of Dreams3:378Dreaming4:289Queen of the Night4:0810From a Distance4:1511The Blizzard (reprise)2:18 on Columbia Records. The album spawned one single – "Fires of Eden", written by Kit Hain and Mark Goldenberg. The single peaked at No. 31 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. At the time of its release, Collins performed it live on several occasions, including on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Joan Rivers Show. A music video promoting it and featuring her was also released. Later, Cher recorded "Fires of Eden" for her 1991 studio album Love Hurts. Other songs from Fires of Eden include "The Blizzard", "Home Before Dark", and a cover of the Hollies song – "The Air That I Breathe". That same year saw the release of a pair of children's albums, Baby's Morningtime×Baby's Morningtime2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 26 tracks1Time To Rise1:352Will There Really Be A Morning1:283The Dew Drop1:444Elsie Marley1:455Ducks At Dawn1:356Getting Out Of Bed1:137The Year's At The Spring1:558Singing-Time1:509Sunrise0:4610Morning Is A Little Lass1:3211Little Bird0:5612That May Morning2:2413Towards Babylon1:3614Jemima1:2715The Pancake1:2016One Misty, Moisty Morning1:0917Ten O'clock Scholar0:5218The Violet0:5919Hark, Hark2:0520The Worm0:5521The Silent Snake2:0322Twinkle Toes1:1723I Am Rose1:3324The Crocus0:4725I'm Glad The Sky Is Painted Blue1:0226Happy Thought0:57 and Baby's Bedtime. Collins performed at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993, singing "Amazing Grace×Amazing Grace1985 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Amazing Grace3:542Day by Day3:153Bridge Over Troubled Water4:334I Don't Know How to Love Him3:515Both Sides Now3:326Abide With Me3:067Just a Closer Walk With Thee3:278When You Wish Upon a Star2:489When a Child Is Born3:2410The Rose5:0811One Day at a Time3:4612Oh Happy Day3:3213Morning Has Broken2:4914Send in the Clowns4:0815The Lord Is My Shepherd2:4516Jerusalem2:19" and "Chelsea Morning". (The Clintons have stated that they named their daughter, Chelsea, after her recording of the song.)
For her next studio album, Collins turned to a project that was both personal and familiar, a set of Bob Dylan covers titled Judy Sings Dylan... Just Like a Woman. Released in 1993, the album was a commercial success and reminded fans she was still active and in fine voice. In 1994, she issued her first Christmas album, Come Rejoice! A Judy Collins Christmas×Come Rejoice! A Judy Collins Christmas20 September 1994 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1I'll Be Home for Christmas1:092Away in a Manger4:223Joy to the World2:344Song for Sarajevo4:465Cherry Tree Carol4:326Good King Wenceslas3:177All on a Wintry Night3:288Come Rejoice3:359Little Road to Bethlehem2:3810Silent Night4:0711A Christmas Carol1:3312Charlie & The Bells Medley: White Christmas / Happy New Year3:4713Let It Snow3:1114Amazing Grace3:48. It would prove to be the first in a series, with other holiday releases soon following, the first being the live album Christmas at the Biltmore Estate×Christmas at the Biltmore Estate1997 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Joy To The World3:172Silver Bells4:203Santa Claus Is Coming To Town4:104Jingle Bells3:175Hark! The Herald Angels Sing3:036What Child Is This?3:407The Twelve Days of Christmas5:018Come Rejoice4:029The Holly and the Ivy3:1310All On A Wintry Night4:0511The First Noel4:1912I Saw Three Ships2:4413The Night Before Christmas5:1714O Come, All Ye Faithful3:53 in 1997, followed by All on a Wintry Night×All on a Wintry Night24 October 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1I'll Be Home for Christmas1:072Come Rejoice3:273Away in a Manger4:244Joy to the World2:345In the Bleak Mid Winter4:306Song for Sarajevo (I Dream of Peace)4:477Good King Wenceslas3:178All on a Wintry Night3:299Let It Snow3:1010Silent Night4:0511A Christmas Carol1:3312Cherry Tree Carol4:3013The Blizzard6:3814The Wexford Carol4:48 in 2000. Collins combined her interests in music and literature for her next project. In 1995, she published a novel, Shameless, that took place against the backdrop of the music business; she also released an album of the same name that served as the soundtrack.
In 1998, Collins published her third book, Singing Lessons: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Hope and Healing, which focused on her struggles with alcoholism, depression, and the emotional trauma of her son's death. In 1999, she released Classic Broadway, a collection of vintage show tunes. That same year, she and her manager Katherine DePaul founded Wildflower Records.

2000s–2020s

Collins maintained a busy release schedule via Wildflower, issuing numerous live albums and reissues as well as new material such as 2005's Portrait of an American Girl×Portrait of an American Girl29 March 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Singing Lessons4:052That Song About the Midway4:093I Can't Cry Hard Enough3:184You Can't Buy Love3:135Pacing the Cage4:026Sally Go 'round the Roses3:277Voyager3:018Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)4:039Wedding Song (Song for Louis)3:5110Checkmate6:0711Liberte3:0812Lincoln Portrait7:1313How Can I Keep From Singing3:53, 2010's Paradise, and 2011's Bohemian, all of which focused on her continued strength as an interpretive vocalist. In 2006, she sang "This Little Light of Mine" in a commercial for Eliot Spitzer. In 2007, she released her own covers collection of Beatles songs, entitled Judy Collins Sings Lennon and McCartney. Various artists, including Shawn Colvin, Rufus Wainwright, and Chrissie Hynde, covered Collins's compositions for the tribute album Born to the Breed in 2008. In the same year, she received an honorary doctorate from Pratt Institute. The tribute albums Tom Thumb's Blues: A Tribute to Judy Collins and Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins appeared in 2000 and 2008, respectively.
In 2010, Collins sang "The Weight of the World" at the Newport Folk Festival, a song by Amy Speace. Another memoir from Collins, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music, appeared the following year and put its focus on her career as an artist. In July 2012, she appeared as a guest artist on the Australian SBS television programme RocKwiz. She paid homage to some of her favorite songwriters as well as her favorite vocalists with the 2015 album Strangers Again×Strangers Again15 September 2015 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Strangers Again4:402Miracle River4:393Belfast to Boston3:444When I Go4:285Make Our Garden Grow3:286Feels Like Home3:597From Grace3:478Hallelujah4:129Someday Soon3:2110Stars in My Eyes3:4611Send in the Clowns3:5212Races4:40, which featured duets with Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne, Jeff Bridges, and Glen Hansard. The album also included a track with singer-songwriter Ari Hest. Collins and Hest joined forces again in 2016 for a full studio album titled Silver Skies Blue×Silver Skies Blue3 June 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Drifting Away3:192I Choose Love3:023Silver Skies Blue3:074The Weight3:175Slow Burn3:176Let You In3:587Run4:158Aberdeen4:399Elena3:3310Secret Harbor4:3311Home Before Dark3:3612Strangers Again4:41, which later earned them a Grammy Award nomination for Best Folk Album.

In 2017, Collins returned to the work of the songwriter who gave her "Send in the Clowns×Send in the Clowns1975 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Send in the Clowns4:012Houses4:40" with A Love Letter to Stephen Sondheim, and the same year, she and her longtime friend, Stephen Stills, collaborated on an album, Everybody Knows×Everybody Knows22 September 2017 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Handle With Care3:432So Begins the Task3:363River of Gold3:374Judy4:035Everybody Knows5:276Houses4:377Reason to Believe2:578Girl From the North Country3:269Who Knows Where the Time Goes5:4110Questions3:45. In addition to the two albums, she bared her soul in another book, Cravings: How I Conquered Food, where she opened up about her difficult relationship with food and her years of dealing with eating disorders. In 2019, she released the album Winter Stories×Winter Stories29 November 2019 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Northwest Passage4:572Mountain Girl4:453Winter Stories4:434Bury Me with My Guitar On3:015River4:006Sweet Refrain4:167The Fallow Way4:038Angels in the Snow5:139Highwayman3:4210Frozen North4:3511The Blizzard6:05, a collaboration with Norwegian singer Jonas Fjeld and the North Carolina country-folk quartet Chatham County Line. In 2022, she released her first studio album of all original material, entitled Spellbound×Spellbound25 February 2022 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Spellbound3:372Grand Canyon3:363So Alive4:574Hell On Wheels3:035Shipwrecked Mariner3:596When I Was A Girl In Colorado5:007Thomas Merton4:488Wild With Mist3:169Gilded Rooms5:0410Prarie Dream5:1011City Of Awakening3:2712Arizona5:5713The Blizzard6:06.
Collins joined the judging panel for the 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Activism

Like many other folk singers of her generation, Collins was drawn to social activism. Her political idealism led her to compose a ballad, Che, in honor of the 1960s Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara. Collins sympathized with the Yippie movement and was friendly with its leaders, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. On March 17, 1968, she went to Hoffman's press conference at the Americana Hotel in New York to announce the party's formation. In 1969, she testified in Chicago in support of the Chicago Seven; during her testimony, she began singing Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and was admonished by prosecutor Tom Foran and judge Julius Hoffman.
In 1971, Collins signed her name to a Ms. campaign, "We Have Had Abortions", which called for an end to "archaic laws" regarding abortion rights; the campaign encouraged women to share their stories and take action. In 1982, she wrote the song "Mama Mama" about a mother of five and her ambivalence over her decision to abort an unintended pregnancy. In the late 1990s, she was a representative for UNICEF and campaigns on behalf of the abolition of landmines. Later songs include "River of Gold" about the environment and "My Name is Maria" about DREAMers, who are mostly undocumented students and youth.

Personal life

Collins has been married twice. She was married to Peter Taylor in 1958 and they had her only child, Clark C. Taylor, who was born the same year. The marriage ended in divorce in 1965. In April 1996, she married industrial designer Louis Nelson, whom she had been seeing since April 1978. They lived in New York City. Nelson died of cancer in 2024.
In 1962, shortly after her debut at Carnegie Hall, Collins was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was in a sanatorium for six months recuperating. She is the subject of the Stephen Stills composition "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", which appeared on the 1969 eponymous debut studio album of Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Collins suffered from bulimia nervosa after she quit smoking in the 1970s. "I went straight from the cigarettes into an eating disorder", she told People magazine in 1992. "I started throwing up. I didn't know anything about bulimia, certainly not that it is an addiction or that it would get worse. My feelings about myself, even though I had been able to give up smoking and lose 20 pounds, were of increasing despair."
She wrote at length of her years of addiction to alcohol, the damage it did to her personal and musical lives and how it contributed to her feelings of depression. Collins admits that although she tried other drugs in the 1960s, alcohol had always been her drug of first choice just as it had been for her father. She entered a rehabilitation program in Pennsylvania in 1978 and has maintained her sobriety ever since, even through such traumatic events as the death of her only child Clark by suicide in 1992 at age 33 after a long bout with clinical depression and substance abuse. Since then, she has also become an activist for suicide prevention.
Collins is a member of the Episcopal Church. In 2000, she cancelled a planned appearance and concert at the Episcopal Church's General Convention in protest of the Church's positions against gay rights. Collins stayed connected with the church, however, when it modified its stance on homosexuality issues.

Academy Awards

In 2003, Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Grammy Awards

Stephen Sondheim won the 1976 Grammy Award for Song of the Year based on the popularity of Collins' performance of "Send in the Clowns×Send in the Clowns1975 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Send in the Clowns4:012Houses4:40" on her album Judith×Judith1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress3:04A2Angel, Spread Your Wings3:11A3Houses4:39A4The Lovin' of the Game3:06A5Song for Duke3:38A6Send in the Clowns4:02B1Salt of the Earth4:03B2Brother, Can You Spare a Dime3:17B3City of New Orleans4:14B4I'll Be Seeing You3:47B5Pirate Ships2:56B6Born to the Breed4:47.

Other awards

For her activism and musical abilities, the Americana Music Association presented Collins with the "Spirit of Americana"/Free Speech Lifetime Achievement Award at their 2005 Honors & Awards ceremony.
She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2006
She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from Pratt Institute in May 2009
In 2009, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Her rendition of "Amazing Grace×Amazing Grace1985 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Amazing Grace3:542Day by Day3:153Bridge Over Troubled Water4:334I Don't Know How to Love Him3:515Both Sides Now3:326Abide With Me3:067Just a Closer Walk With Thee3:278When You Wish Upon a Star2:489When a Child Is Born3:2410The Rose5:0811One Day at a Time3:4612Oh Happy Day3:3213Morning Has Broken2:4914Send in the Clowns4:0815The Lord Is My Shepherd2:4516Jerusalem2:19" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2017.
She received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 2019.
Collins received the International Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 UK Americana Awards.

Certifications

The years given are the years the albums and singles were released and not necessarily the years in which they achieved their peaks.