32 Facts About Holly Near

Holly Near was born on June 6,1949 and is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist.

Holly Near was born in Ukiah, California, United States, and was raised on a ranch in Potter Valley, California.

Holly Near has two sisters, Timothy Near and Laurel Near, and a brother, Fred.

Holly Near was eight years old when she first performed publicly, and she auditioned for Columbia Records when she was ten.

Holly Near sang in all the high school musicals, talent shows and often was invited to sing at gatherings of local service groups, such as the Soroptimist Club, Lions Club, and Garden Club.

When Holly Near joined, they began to sound more like The Weavers, with three male voices and one female.

Holly Near learned later of the original Freedom Singers who sang as part of the Civil Rights Movement.

Holly Near would meet and work with the female singer in The Weavers, Ronnie Gilbert.

Holly Near entered in to a long period of silence until her voice healed.

Holly Near appeared in Angel, Angel, Down We Go, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Minnie and Moskowitz.

Holly Near was briefly a member of the musical comedy troupe First National Nothing and appeared on the troupe's only album If You Sit Real Still and Hold My Hand, You Will Hear Absolutely Nothing, released in 1970 on Columbia Records.

In 1970, Holly Near was a cast member of the Broadway musical Hair.

Holly Near was only 21 and the youngest member of the troupe.

In 1972, Holly Near founded an independent record label called Redwood Records to produce and promote music by "politically conscious artists from around the world".

Holly Near was one of the first women to found an independent record company.

Holly Near wrote an autobiography in the early 1990s titled Fire in the Rain, Singer in the Storm.

Later, with her sister Timothy, Holly Near co-wrote a one-woman show based on the stories in the book.

Holly Near is still active as a performer and composer, and she has begun issuing CDs available through her website that include tracks from her out-of-print albums.

Holly Near's song "Singing For Our Lives" appears in Singing the Living Tradition, the official hymnal of the Unitarian Universalist Association, under the title "We Are A Gentle, Angry People".

Holly Near hosted many of the tributes to both Pete Seeger and Ronnie Gilbert, two members of the seminal folk group The Weavers.

Holly Near has been an honored guest at several of the GALA Choruses Festivals, a conference of GLBTQ choirs and choruses.

Holly Near appears as a soloist with several of the choruses and many of her songs have been arranged for choral singing.

In 2018, Holly Near released a new recording titled 2018, reflecting on issues including the environment, aging, domestic violence and the unresolved storm damage in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria.

In October 2018, a documentary film titled Holly Near: Singing for Our Lives made by director Jim Brown premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival, detailing Near's life and work.

In 1976, Holly Near came out as a lesbian and began a three-year relationship with musician Meg Christian.

Holly Near added LGBTQ issues to her international peace work as she continued to present social change music around the world and at home.

Holly Near has been in a relationship with a man since 1994.

Holly Near is dedicated to the rights of LGBTQ communities and continues to work to create a cultural forum for diversity.

Holly Near has been recognized many times for her work for social change, including honors from the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Organization for Women, NARAS, Ms.

In 1989, Holly Near received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from World College West in California.

Holly Near was named among the "1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize".

Holly Near was named as an Honoree for National Women's History Month for 2015.