Legendary singer-songwriter Janis Ian announces album and tour
Today, legendary singer/songwriter Janis Ian announces The Light at the End of the Line, set for release January 21, 2022 on her own label, Rude Girl Records.
The Light at the End of the Line is Ian’s first album of new material in 15 years, and is also her last solo studio recording — a “swan song,” she notes. Take a listen to the first track on the album, “I’m Still Standing”:
The Light at the End of the Line bookends a kaleidoscopic catalog that began with her 1967 self-titled debut at age 15. Ian began her iconic career at age 14 when she wrote her socially and politically impactful song “Society’s Child” about an interracial romance between teenagers.
Her soul-baring songwriting produced the iconic tracks including “At Seventeen,” “Jesse,” and “Stars,” the latter which was covered by Nina Simone, Cher, Mel Tormé, and a host of other artists who felt the song spoke to their own lives. She has been nominated for nine Grammy awards and won two: one in 1976 for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female (“At Seventeen”) and one in 2013 for Best Spoken Word Recording (Society’s Child: An Autobiography).
Now, this album is both a continuation of her themes and the capstone of an incredible body of work. The songs explore themes of getting older but becoming wiser (“I’m Still Standing”), and of knowing when to stand up for your beliefs (“Resist”). She also pays homage to a lifelong hero Nina Simone (“Nina”).
“I love this album,” Ian says. “There is an element of, ‘This is the absolute best I can do over the span of 58 years as a writer. This is what I’ve learned. And I realized that this album has an arc, and I’ve never really done anything like that before.”
“As I wrote The Light at the End of the Line,’ I realized that it’s really a love song. I didn’t understand that so many years of meeting my audience after shows, of corresponding with them, had created this very real relationship that few artists are privileged to have.”
The album also sets the stage for Ian’s final North American tour in 2022, sure to be sold out, and aptly titled Celebrating Our Years Together.
Dates and tickets are at janisian.com.
