“An Evening with a Legend: Joan Armatrading Reflects on a Life in Music”
- Alan Bryce
- Apr 10
- 5 min read
Cadogan Hall London 7th April 2025
WORDS AND IMAGES ALAN BRYCE
There’s not a lot than can be said about Joan Armatrading that hasn’t already been said. Opportunities to meet such icons are few and far between, and to have them sit on a stage, no guitar, no music just them and a skilled interviewer - for 2 hours, to dissect their life and their music and to hear their opinions, doesn’t happen all that often.
Monday 7th April, at the Cadogan Hall, was just such an opportunity.
Unfortunately, the demand for Joan’s time before the scheduled event was in demand so I didn’t have a chance to ask any direct questions, but I was afforded the opportunity, along with 2 others, to meet Joan privately for a few minutes. To chat and have a selfie taken. What a pleasure. Joan was engaging and endearing. Taking the time to move our small group around to find the best light for the pictures. To say I was a little starstruck was an understatement.
When the event started, Joan entered the stage with a beaming smile and a wave before settling in for the 2 hour compressed version of her extensive career.
This is someone who has released 21 albums over 53 years in the industry.
It was interesting to hear about Joan’s early life, growing up in St Kitts before moving to Birmingham at the age of 7. Her parents had moved to the UK earlier and she described how it felt leaving St Kitts and her grandparents behind, to travel on her own, to the UK and to reunite with her family. This was in the late 50’s and must have been quite daunting for a child travelling alone. Yet, she remembered the time fondly and spoke of her excitement when she was reunited with her parents.
Interestingly, the story of her first 2 albums was brief. However, a particular talking point was the self-titled album ‘Joan Armatrading’ and more specifically the song Love and Affection. This, in Joan’s opinion, was the song that changed everything for her. She knew it was a great song, but she could never have imagined the scale of it.
This led to many opportunities for Joan, one that stood out for her was being asked by Bob Dylan to perform at his 1978 Blackbushe show. Joan was under the impression that she was a side act or would be on a smaller stage, she had no idea that she was on the main stage, billed just below Dylan, with an audience as far as the eye could see.
As Joan moved into the 80’s so her music style developed and moved with the times. She was eager to point out that she had a God given talent that she needed to nurture and use. She is acutely aware of the importance of this. Just as she made it clear that treating people well was important.
It was in the 80’s segment of the questions where the topic of Drop the Pilot came up. I don’t know anyone, with an 80’s playlist, that doesn’t have this song on it. It was so iconic and groundbreaking. It was a soundtrack to the early to mid 80’s.
Joan has consistently produced work throughout her career releasing an album every 2 to 3 years, with only 2 occasions where it’s taken her as much as 6 years to bring a record to fruition. This doesn’t mean that she’s not busy. She is involved with the King’s Trust (previously the Prince’s Trust) Local colleges, Open University and other charity work – she told how she completed a history degree whilst on tour in the days when assignments had to be posted.
A particular highlight for me was when she discussed her meeting and interaction with Nelson Mandela. Whilst in Cape Town she was taken to Robben Island where Mandela had been held prisoner. The island and prison is now a museum. Joan had been given a tour of the grounds and prison and was shown Mandela’s cell. She recalled how she was shocked at how small the cell was. Then, when she travelled to Johannesburg, she expected to be part of a group that was to meet Madiba, however, she was the only one that had been invited to his home. She says they spoke indoors before walking in his garden. They sat, spoke and he gave her a signed copy of his book. The images of this meeting were shown on the screen behind Joan during this segment and she was clearly remembering this time fondly.
So fast forward to 2024. Joan releases her 21st studio album entitled ‘How did this happen and what does it now mean’. When asked about the title, she had no specific explanation but alluded to it being a reflection on the way of the world today. She seemed bemused that we were in a time where people couldn’t talk and have differing viewpoints without falling out and conversations resulting in arguments. The lead single of the record ‘I’m not moving’ was based on an incident Joan witnessed where a seemingly homeless man was being moved on from outside a coffee shop. The event, although not physically violent, was aggressive in nature. This had a profound effect on Joan, who immediately wrote some words down that later became the lyrics to the song. ‘I’m not moving’ is a real story, about a real person in today’s time.
Joan’s music catalogue is vast and varied from rock and pop to blues. She has also written a full symphony that includes 100-piece choir. This is due to come to the stage at the end of this year.
I have to say, 2 hours was never going to be enough time to hear the full life story of Joan Armatrading. She was engaging, open, honest, funny, cheeky and I don’t think we even scratched the surface of the stories Joan could tell.
Julia Etchingham, who hosted the event, used her skill as a newsreader and interviewer to guide the conversation but was more than happy to let Joan take her time to answer questions and to veer off course as she saw fit.
All in all, a hugely enjoyable evening. I could have listened to Joan tell the stories of her life for hours. When the event ended, Joan received a well-deserved standing ovation. Not just to acknowledge the time she took to talk about her life, but to acknowledge what she has done for the music world over the last 50 plus years.
This woman is a gift, and we’re lucky to have her.
FOLLOW JOAN ARMATRADING
Comments