When I was starting out, somebody told me my career would last five years. I didn’t think they were right. I didn’t think they were wrong. I just thought that I was going to do music as long as I wanted to.

Armatrading first performed in a concert at Birmingham University for her brother at the age of about 16. She only knew her own songs, but her brother asked her to perform something that would be familiar to the audience; she chose " The Sound of Silence". [8] She then performed her own songs around the local area with a friend from school, and played bass- and rhythm-guitar at local clubs. [6] [15] In 1968 Armatrading joined a touring production of the stage musical Hair. [6] There she met the lyricist Pam Nestor in 1970, [16] and they worked together on Armatrading's debut album Whatever's for Us, released by Cube Records in 1972. [17] Nestor wrote the lyrics to eleven of the 14 songs on the album, while Armatrading wrote the lyrics to three of them, performed all the vocals, wrote all the music and played an array of instruments on the album. Although Nestor was credited as co-lyricist, Cube regarded Armatrading as the more likely star material. These events produced a tension that broke up the partnership. [18] Selected and arranged by the author, and featuring a foreword by revered record producer Glyn Johns, The Weakness In Mepresents the lyrics of Armatrading for the first time in one unique volume. It also contains an introduction by Armatrading alongside annotations to a number of songs, giving a rare, personal glimpse into the creative process of a true pioneer. No. But my predictions in the last few years have been wrong across the board. I predicted that Hillary Clinton was gonna destroy Donald Trump, so what do I know?a b c d Brown, Helen (27 August 2005). "Don't drop the pilot!". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 . Retrieved 29 April 2011. Tuber, Keith (September 1983). "Joan Armatrading hopes The Key finds success". Orange Coast Magazine. Emmis Communications: 130–131. ISSN 0279-0483 . Retrieved 27 September 2011.

a b Smithies, Gran (21 September 2014). "Joan Armatrading's enduring charm". Stuff . Retrieved 9 December 2020.Morris, Hugh (12 November 2023). "For Joan Armatrading, Classical Music Is Just Another Genre". The New York Times . Retrieved 23 November 2023.

In 2022, she composed her first classical work, Symphony No. 1; it was premiered by the Chineke! Orchestra at Southbank Centre in London on 24 November 2023. It is to be recorded for Decca Records. [41] [42] Appearances and other media [ edit ] a b "Joan Armatrading Readying The Release Of 'Me Myself I World Tour' DVD And CD Set For Release". 429 Records via PR Newswire. 14 October 2016 . Retrieved 3 February 2017. Armatrading performed as a cameo vocalist for the song "Don't Lose Your Head" on the 1986 Queen album A Kind of Magic. Festival programme book: Clapp, Lori, ed. (1996), Edmonton Folk Music Festival Programme Book, vol.17, Alberta, Canada: Edmonton Folk Music Festival Society, p.14, [Peel 10572.17 – via Peel Library, University of Alberta] Selected and arranged by the author, and featuring a foreword by revered record producer Glyn Johns, The Weakness In Me presents the lyrics of Armatrading for the first time in one unique volume. It also contains an introduction by Armatrading alongside annotations to a number of songs, giving a rare, personal glimpse into the creative process of a true pioneer.I’ve had people say to me that they’ve used that at their wedding. And that may be a bit — I’m not sure that it’s a wedding song! But I suppose it says, “the weakness in me,” which is quite nice. In April 2016, she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in recognition of her "influence on a generation of singer-songwriters [as] one of the outstanding voices in British music since the 1970s". [78] [79] Year One of the finest singer-songwriters of her generation: a woman of fierce intelligence and self-effacing wit who never stopped reading your mind or keeping you guessing.’ Pitchfork Before I ask you about Consequences — the world has obviously undergone a major change in the last year and a half. During the pandemic, what has life been like for you and what has it been like in rural England? In 2018, she signed to BMG. Her first album for the label, Not Too Far Away, was released in May 2018. [36] [37]