Well we’ll be damned. Joan Baez is leaving us. But she is going out on a great note, with the release of a new studio album, Whistle Down the Wind. She has said of her farewell tour, “While 2018 will be my last year of formal extended touring, I’m looking forward to being on the road with a beautiful new album about which I am truly proud. I welcome the opportunity to share this new music as well as longtime favorites with my audiences around the world.”

As the person Bob Dylan can thank for introducing him to the world, Baez’s career has spanned 50 years. She was already revered as the “Queen of Folk" when she decided Dylan was worth taking under her wing in the early ‘60s. An activist on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement with Martin Luther King, she has led an impressive life.

Baez plays the Waterfront in Belfast on March 19, while the sold out gigs at the Bord Gáis take place on the 21st and 22nd.