Janis Ian

New Yorker Janis Ian first found success as a teenager, when a song she wrote, "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)," caused a furor because of its interracial theme. After her initial success, Ian dropped out of high school and threw herself into music, recording For All the Seasons of Your Mind in 1967, The Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink in 1968 and Who Really Cares in 1969. Although each album was moderately successful, Ian gave most of her earnings to charity and needy friends. In 1970, the singer married photojournalist Peter Cunningham and announced she was retiring from the music business. The marriage didn't last a year, and in 1971, Ian released Present Company. The album did poorly, and she moved to California for a fresh start. Moderate success came with the album Stars, but it was 1975's Between the Lines that returned Ian to the spotlight, thanks to the folky "At Seventeen." Her subsequent releases failed to reach those heights, and in 1981, she was dropped by her label. Ian came back in 1993 with Breaking Silence. A smattering of studio and live recordings surfaced in the early 2000s, culminating in 2006's Folk Is the New Black.