Senior Planet Talks to…Judy Collins!

At 86 years old, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Judy Collins is nothing short of a miracle. After almost seven decades in the business, she remains passionate about her music, still touring and performing timeless hits like Send in the Clowns and Both Sides Now and being honored for her ongoing contributions at The New Jewish Home’s Eight Over Eighty Gala.

Taking time to catch her breath following the death of her beloved husband last year, she tells SENIOR PLANET why she’s ready to get back on the road:

Q: After your long marriage to industrial designer Louis Nelson, how are you coping?

JUDY: Right now, of course, I’m in the throes of what happens to a lot of women after my husband died – and it’s horrible – but you do what you have to do, and go through what you have to go through. And I miss him like mad. But I make sure that my social life is organized, seeing friends that I’m crazy about every day, which keeps me sane. I would say that I have a very full and exciting social life.

Q: What was the secret to your happy marriage?

JUDY: We had 46 wonderful years together, which is amazing. We met four days before I got sober in 1978 and there was immediately a spark. I knew the minute I met him, that he was the person that I was supposed to meet all along. I was 39 and he was two and a half years older. It was just perfect and everything clicked, and we got along like crazy – an amazing journey, every bit of it.

Q: How do you find the energy for your busy touring schedule?

JUDY: Well, I’ve toured most of my life, since I was 19, and I still do about 100 shows a year. Not just in the US but sometimes in the UK or Australia. I get up and meditate and try to do my exercises. I eat right. And ever since I got sober in 1978, I sleep like a rock although sometimes I take Boiron Chamomilla which helps with sleep. If I get on a plane for 16 hours, I immediately take chamomilla under the tongue and sleep the whole time.

Also, I try to practice the piano every day and write new songs. All of that keeps me strong.

Q: What’s your favorite song to perform?

JUDY: John Riley might be my favorite. It’s a centuries-old folk song, and people go crazy when they hear it. I also love singing everything from my last album Spellbound (2022). I love just about everything that I sing. Send in the Clowns is always fun and Both Sides Now hits the spot.

Q: And Joni Mitchell wrote Both Sides Now. Do you stay in touch with any of your contemporaries?

JUDY: It all depends. I live in New York and many of my contemporaries live in other places. But every so often we get together and that’s always a good thing. I went to the outskirts of New York to visit with my singer-songwriter friend Jimmy Webb the other day and tomorrow I’ll see my dear friend Jason Robert Brown (musical theater composer-lyricist), who is so special. One of my great friends who lives here is (singer-songwriter) Suzanne Vega. And when I last played in New York, a lot of old friends came – like Stephen Stills – and we sang Helplessly Hoping together.

Q: And Stephen wrote Suite: Judy Blue Eyes when you were dating back in the 60s?

JUDY: Yes. He’s very dear. He spoke at the end of the show, and said: “She married the right guy”, which was so touching. Stephen and my husband were very good friends.

Q: You’re so prolific with books, albums and tours. Any other dreams you’d like to fulfill?

JUDY: I’m writing the music for a film right now. I can’t tell you the subject, but it’s very exciting. Also there’s a biographical documentary being made about me. And then there’s going to be another film based on my 2011 book, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music. So there’s lots of things going on.

Q: What do you do for exercise?

JUDY: I walk with weights now because my trainer said that the only way to get your bone mass back, is to use weights. So I have a weight vest, but I prefer the free weights – and I can watch West Wing while I’m walking (on a treadmill). I use a Fitbit and do 10,000 steps a day. There was a period when I swam a half mile every day. I belonged to three clubs in New York City with a swimming pool, and in each club I would have a locker with my hair dryer, swimsuit and shampoo. So anywhere I was in the city, I could work out. I did it for a long time and, at one point, Louis said: “Do you understand that you’re getting sick more often with colds? I think it’s the swimming”. So I stopped immediately and started running. I ran for a long time but Louis was worried about me running in the park.

Q: How about nutrition?

JUDY: I was always on one diet or another – the brown rice diet or Atkins. I was bulimic for about 11 years and, consequently, I had a lot of bone loss, so I worked very hard on that. And finally, when I got sober, I got into a 12-Step oriented food plan called Grey Sheet for a long time with no sugar or grains. I was always a restrictor which kept my weight down. The highest that I’ve ever been is 140 lbs. And, at this point, I think I’m 121 lbs. I’ve always been very conscious of it, and Grey Sheet was helpful with just three meals a day, and nothing in between. Today I’m more moderate, but I eat very healthfully.

Q: It’s extraordinary that you’ve remained sober for almost 50 years – especially with a life on the road. How do you avoid temptation?

JUDY: I had 20 years of drinking, when I would walk into the arms of a vodka straight down [after a show]. But my life was coming to pieces at the end of my drinking and, for a lot of alcoholics, that’s when it happens. Oh my God, I was falling apart. I also had a problem that nobody knew how to fix, which was a hemangioma on my left vocal cord, and I suddenly couldn’t sing. But I had a wonderful ENT doctor who suggested a laser procedure to remove it. It was a new treatment at the time and he said it may or may not do the trick – but it I didn’t try it then I wouldn’t be singing anyway.

Q: Clearly it worked?

JUDY: Yes, he took it off, and I was cured. When he did the surgery, I knew within a couple of weeks that I was fine, but I was still drinking. When I met Louis on April 16 1978, I was four days from going into treatment. He didn’t know I was drunk. And so when we got together a few weeks later – that was it. I was sober, and I was with him, and we had an incredible 46 years. I was very lucky.

Q: What is your secret to aging with attitude?

JUDY: Just keeping in touch with friends and working on my social life as well as singing, traveling and writing songs. And I always try to hear what people have to say about what they do because I have a lot of women friends who, unfortunately, have also lost their husbands. Clearly guys have a problem with aging – whereas we women have a lot of help and we eat well and know how to exercise.

Photo: Shervin Lainez.

Check out Judy’s upcoming tour dates here: http://www.judycollins.com/concerts

Gill Pringle began her career as a rock columnist for popular British newspapers, traveling the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Moving to Los Angeles 27 years ago, she interviews film and TV personalities for prestigious UK outlets, The Independent, The i-paper and The Sunday Times – and, of course, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Choice Association, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix family film, The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure. An award-winning writer, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Club with 1st prize at the NAEJ Awards.