Joan Baez

About Joan Baez

Joan Baez, born in 1941, is a highly influential singer-songwriter whose historical importance stems primarily from her pivotal role in the American folk music revival and her staunch advocacy for civil rights and nonviolent protest movements across decades. Her powerful voice and commitment to social justice established her as a major cultural figure, earning her the #609 rank in MIT’s Historical Popularity Index among global historical figures.

Despite this significant historical weighting, Baez’s 2025 annualized Wikipedia viewership stands at 3.4 million, representing a substantial internet overattention of +10x when benchmarked against her HPI rank. This high level of modern digital engagement contrasts sharply with figures of greater historical magnitude; for example, inventor Karl Benz, ranked #193 in importance, garnered only 53K views in the same period. The data suggests that for contemporary audiences, Baez’s cultural relevance in the digital sphere significantly outpaces her relative historical ranking.

Adding nuance to her current attention, Baez shows an exceptionally volatile digital interest, with her 2025 Momentum dropping by -79% between Q1 and Q3, suggesting a recent peak in attention that is already rapidly receding, though her overall Year-over-Year change is still a strong +138.0%.