Joan Baez Adds Paul Simon and Mavis Staples to Tour-Launching 75th Birthday Concert Lineup

Joan Baez is launching an 18-city North American tour with a concert celebrating the legendary folk singer-songwriter and social activist's 75th birthday and 55 year-long career. The folk pioneer has announced that she's added Paul Simon and Mavis Staples to the stacked lineup of special guests joining her on stage at New York City's Beacon Theatre on January 27th.
As previously reported, Baez's birthday party concert will also feature Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, the Indigo Girls, Damien Rice, David Bromberg, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Judy Collins, Nano Stern and Richard Thompson.

The Beacon Theatre concert appears to be sold out. However, those who didn't snag tickets will not miss out entirely: the full show is scheduled to air after the fact as part of PBS' Great Performance series, Entertainment Weekly reports.

Baez has also announced that she is teaming up with Amnesty International for the upcoming tour. Representatives of the organization will join the folk singer at each of the tour stops with the goal of raising awareness and gaining support regarding the human rights crisis of mass incarceration of disenfranchised minorities in the U.S.

Baez said in a statement: "I am pleased once again to be joining forces with Amnesty International, this time on the critical and urgent issue of racial and ethnic disparities of incarceration, right here in the United States," Rolling Stone reports.

The singer has collaborated with the group in the past and has recorded a number of songs about the issue of incarceration over her career. Listen to her "Prison Trilogy" below:

Margaret Huang, interim executive director of Amnesty International USA, said about the partnership: "We are excited to continue our longstanding collaboration with Joan and look forward to welcoming her fans to join Amnesty International and take action on human rights issues here in the United States," Rolling Stone reports.

Huang added: "The United States is the leading jailer in the world. Together, we can change that."

After her North American tour, the folk icon has a few European dates scheduled for July. More information about the tour can be found on the artist's website.

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Joan Baez, Paul Simon, Mavis Staples