She wrote “Society’s Child”, her first hit, fifty years ago, at the age of fourteen. We sell dreams.”Ģ016 marks a year of anniversaries for Janis. On a more serious note, she said, “We artists are the last alchemists, pulling your dreams, your hopes, your deepest desires out of thin air, and turning them into something you can hear, and play, and sing. An ex-president, a First Lady and three lesbians go into a bar…” When she won, she sincerely considered it to be a “stunning upset.” With her inimitable sense of humor, she went on to say “There must be a joke in here somewhere. She had stiff competition - President Bill Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama, Rachel Maddow and Ellen DeGeneres. Now her fifth decade of writing songs and performing, Janis Ian received her most recent Grammy nomination in 2016, making a total of 10 nominations over the years in 8 categories! (She lost to President Jimmy Carter.) Her last Grammy Award, presented at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, was for Best Spoken Word Album for her audio book “Society’s Child” ().
