Joan Baez and Bob Dylan are among the most iconic and influential former power couples of the 1960s, serving as de facto figureheads of the burgeoning folk revival and the sociopolitical movements for which this music provided a backdrop. Their time together was brief and, because of their individual celebrities, highly scrutinized and rehashed in film and television.
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Adding to public interest about these musical powerhouses was the fact that both had a certain sense of opacity. They were artists who allowed you to see what they wanted you to see, but little else. One of the aspects of their relationship that did seem transparent, however, was Baez’s ability to poke fun at Dylan from a place of love. “Don’t take yourself too seriously,” her imitations and one-liners seemed to say. It was endearing.
And even decades after that relationship dissolved, reformed, and took on different shapes, Baez has no small shortage of zingers about her former friend and colleague. They’re the kind of roasts that are only okay because they come from a place of intimate respect and knowledge of the person.
Joan Baez Didn’t Have Time to Dive Into This Divisive Bob Dylan Album
Joan Baez has been credited by many—and indeed, even Bob Dylan himself—with discovering the recent New York City transplant in the early 1960s. People were quick to write off Dylan for his unkempt appearance and shady origins, and Baez insisted they listen. She was right, and Dylan became all the more successful for it. Their relationship infamously grew rocky as Dylan’s star rose, leaving Baez with a unique vantage point that has only grown more nuanced and resolute in the years that followed.
The Timothée Chalamet-led biopic of Bob Dylan naturally led to Baez being asked more questions about her ex-duet partner. Speaking to Mojo in 2025, Baez discussed her admiration and resentment toward Dylan—and how she managed to find a balance between the two after they parted ways by the end of the 1960s. At one point, journalist Michael Simmons asked Baez if she had listened to Dylan’s divisive triple album of Frank Sinatra covers, Triplicate.
With a laugh, she replied, “Please. I listened to two, and I really couldn’t go on after that. [But] I appreciate that he doesn’t give a f*** [taking] that on with barely a voice. On the other hand, I love his Christmas album. It’s close to the same voice.” No posturing, no pretense, just shooting it to you straight like only a long-time friend who has been through some s*** with you could say.
She Wasn’t the Only One to Feel That Way, to Be Fair
Bob Dylan released his triple album of Frank Sinatra covers, Triplicate, in May 2017. The album peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200, and some critics gave it high praise. However, many others called the work self-indulgent and so Dylan-esque that it almost felt like satire. In any case, Joan Baez’s remarks about the album didn’t come from a place of bitterness. Just after describing her failed attempt to get through Triplicate, the painter, songwriter, and activist described the moment she felt fully at peace with her relationship to Dylan.
“When I was doing a commission of Bob, painting him, I put his music on, and any remaining resentment literally evaporated like a gift from heaven,” Baez told Mojo. “It was only then that I could only be grateful for having been his friend, for having had access to his music, for having been a part of those wild years. So that is exactly how I am right now. There is nothing negative left at all. He gave us the absolute best.”
Photo by Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images
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