Two-time Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Janis Ian has revealed her little-known affection for Ballybofey.
The singer, who is known for hits such as At Seventeen and Society’s Child, shared her admiration for the Finn Valley town in a recent interview.
Ian revealed that she has been coming to Ireland since the 70s, but it’s Ballybofey that has her heart.
“I have to confess, I have a great fondness for Ballybofey, I had a wonderful time there, a great three days off,” Ian told Brendan O’Connor on RTE Radio 1.
“They have a beautiful creek or river and people were just so nice.”
O’Connor said that Ian can expect an even warmer reception the next time she’s back in Donegal.
“If you ever go back to Ballybofey you will get a great welcome there after that plug,” he said.
Ian will be returning to Ireland in January for a special evening in Dublin honouring her life and work.
Sadly, Ian is no longer singing due to vocal chord scarring. On her last album, she made the difficult decision to call it a day on both singing and touring.
However, Janis Ian – A Life Between the Lines, at the National Stadium in Dublin on 28th January will see the artist reflecting on her illustrious career and fearless journey.
Ian wrote her breakthrough hit, “Society’s Child,” at the age of 14 in 1965. It was the first charted song to speak about interracial romance and marked both her first Top 20 hit and first gold record. In 1966, Ian paved the way again by becoming the first female artist to write every track on her debut album (“Janis Ian”), long before Joni Mitchell or Carole King did.
She continued her fearless journey by becoming one of the first gay pop stars to come out in the early 1990s and by championing free downloads of her music back when the industry fought hard against it. Known for such evergreen songs as “Jesse,” “Stars,” “Fly Too High”, and “At Seventeen,” her album Between the Lines was a five-time GRAMMY nominee, again breaking records by becoming the first female artist to have that many nominations for an entirely self-penned album.
She’s taken home two Grammys, first in 1975 for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “At Seventeen” and the second in 2013 for Best Spoken Word Album for her autobiography, Society’s Child: My Autobiography.