3 Folk Music Career Comebacks That Nobody Saw Coming

Folk music comes in and out of vogue, and it’s been that way since the folk singer-songwriter boom of the 1960s. Naturally, some of the biggest names in folk have had their career ups and downs. But the following three folk artists’ comebacks were totally shocking and very well-deserved. Let’s take a look!

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Shelagh McDonald

This British folk singer-songwriter released two albums in the early 1970s and also appeared on a compilation album in 1971. However, while attempting to record her third album in 1971, McDonald vanished, following a bad LSD trip. Few heard from her after the fact. Then, in 2005, a writer published an article about her disappearance, which prompted McDonald to tell her side of the story. It’s an unfortunately common one. After that bad LSD trip in the 70s, McDonald claimed her voice was ruined and that she was left with severe paranoia and moved back in with her parents, and also experienced homelessness.

Then, in 2012, following the death of her partner that year, McDonald decided to return to folk music and start recording new material. She released one album in 2013 titled Parnassus Revisited and briefly performed live. Her comeback wasn’t a massive success, but it did put a well-deserved punctuation mark on what should have been a more acclaimed career.

Vashti Bunyan

Vashti Bunyan released her incredible debut album, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. Despite being a truly beautiful folk record, the album barely sold. Discouraged, Bunyan decided to leave the music industry for good. That is, until 30 years later, when the album resurfaced among fans of 20th-century folk and became a cult classic.

Spurred on by finally getting the recognition she deserved, Bunyan returned to music after a three-decade gap with Lookaftering in 2005. That record was met with almost universal acclaim and reached No. 24 on the UK Indie chart. Bunyan only released one additional studio album in the 2010s, but that early aughts comeback was really something special to see.

Judy Collins

This has to be one of the coolest folk musician comebacks ever, and Judy Collins definitely deserved it. Best known for her folk and Americana work in the 1960s, Collins made a name for herself with Top 20 albums like Wildflowers from 1967 and Whales & Nightingales from 1970. Sadly, by the 1980s, Collins’ charting success had dwindled. After releasing Home Again in 1984 to no charting success in the US, Collins faded away from the spotlight. Though, she continued to release music through the 1990s and 2000s.

However, after releasing Strangers Again in 2015, Collins was back on the charts. This studio album was composed of duets with famous singers like Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Don McLean, and others. And the comeback record was a critically acclaimed hit, peaking at No. 77 in the US.

Photo by Shervin Lainez