Judy Collins On Her Remarkable Journey, Stories of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen And More

By Editorial Staff | Published: Jun 11, 2026 1:56 PM EDT

Music icon Judy Collins was the featured guest on the latest episode of the Rock & Roll High School podcast Pete Ganbarg. The show sent over these details: Few artists have lived as many lives in music as Judy Collins.

Emerging from the folk revival of the early 1960s, Judy became one of the era's defining voices, recording timeless interpretations of songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, and Leonard Cohen, while helping introduce many of them to a wider audience. Her recording of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" became a signature hit, and her career has since spanned more than six decades of music, activism, writing, and performance.

In this episode of Rock & Roll High School, Judy joins Pete Ganbarg for a wide-ranging conversation about her extraordinary journey: growing up in a musical family, discovering folk music, the Greenwich Village scene, friendships with artists including Joan Baez, Stephen Stills, and Leonard Cohen, and the stories behind some of the most important songs of her career like "Amazing Grace" and "Send In The Clowns."

They also discuss Judy's work as an author and filmmaker, her remarkable longevity as a performer, and her upcoming Sweet Judy Blues Farewell Tour, which begins July 4, 2026 and will continue into 2027.

At 87 years old, Judy Collins remains a singular voice in American music - reflective, insightful, and still creating. This is a conversation with a true living legend.

On Joni Mitchell... I used to drink and I don't anymore. In 1967, I was passed out and sound asleep and the phone rang and it was 3 in the morning and I picked up the phone and it was my friend Al Kooper...I said "it's 3 in the morning where are you?" He said I'm at a club and I met this girl, she says she's a songwriter and she was good looking so I followed her and she started to play her songs..and I said well I think I will call Judy because she is recording next week. Joni got on the phone with me at 3 in the morning and she sang me "Both Sides Now"... I was the luckiest, this is an amazing history. I sang it, it became a hit.

On her special relationship with her friend Joan Baez: "I'll tell you something. Joan Baez called me the morning after my husband died in 2004. I don't know how she knew about it but she and I talked and laughed and cried for an hour. And then I was (finally) able to go back to sleep. That's my friend Joanie."

On her nearly lifelong connection with Stephen Stills and the upcoming "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes Farewell Tour:" "It's nice to have that title so I'm glad I had a romance with Stephen Stills...we've had a lifetime friendship. We speak regularly. We went on a fabulous tour for a year and a half. We did 115 shows. We were on stage the whole time together. I adore Stephen."