Bob Dylan and Joan Baez met in 1961, and soon they performed together on stage. In 1963, they started a relationship that, unfortunately, ended two years later on a sour note. The two of them have spoken about their relationship throughout the years, with Dylan's dealing with the "madness" of his career and his refusal to invite Baez on stage pointed as the reason the couple had a falling out.
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According to the Daily Mail, Baez met Dylan in Greenwich Village back in April 1961. They hit it off quickly, becoming friends and Baez started inviting Dylan on stage during her concerts. From 1963 to 1965, they were in a loving relationship that took a turn for the worse during Dylan's 1965 England tour. For some reason, Dylan didn't want to invite Baez on stage.
"I just sort of trotted around, wondering why Bob wouldn't invite me onstage, feeling very sorry for myself, getting very neurotic and not having the brains to leave and go home," Baez said. She then described Dylan's tour as "wasted time."
After Baez and Dylan put an end to their relationship in 1965, Dylan married Sara Lownds later that very same year. Dylan's former tour manager, Victor Maymudes, asked Dylan why did leave Baez and married Lownds.
"Because Sara will be home when I want her to be home, she'll be there when I want her to be there, she'll do it when I want her to do it," Dylan told Maymudes. "Joan won't be there when I want her. She won't do it when I want to do it."
Maymudes described Dylan as a "king" and Baez as a "queen." "Bob didn't want a queen," he said. "He wanted something simpler."
Mutual Respect
Since their breakup, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan have reflected on their relationship. Both of them seem compassionate about each other, veering toward self-reflection instead of pointing fingers at each other.
"Dylan and I couldn't figure out how we felt about each other," Baez said in 2023. She then said that, given that she was the only one not doing drugs, she felt uncomfortable at the time. However, for her, her past with Dylan is "totally healed," despite them not talking for decades. "There's still a bond, and that's enough for me," Baez said. "The fact that I'm linked with him forever in some people's perspectives - well, there could be worse things."
Dylan himself then expressed feeling bad about his relationship with Baez. "I was just trying to deal with the madness that had become my career, and unfortunately she got swept along, and I felt very bad about it," Dylan said. Moreover, Dylan would praise Baez during a speech after he was named MusiCares Person of the Year in 2015.
"Joan Baez is as tough-minded as they come. Love. And she's a free, independent spirit. Nobody can tell her what to do if she doesn't want to do it," Dylan said. "I learned a lot of things from her. A woman with devastating honesty. And for her kind of love and devotion, I could never pay that back."
