Artists First Signs Grammy Winner Ani DiFranco

EXCLUSIVE: Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and activist Ani DiFranco has signed with Artists First, with an eye toward expanding her resume in film, television and theatre.

A feminist icon whose music blends folk, punk, funk, and jazz influences, DiFranco broke new ground in 1990, when she founded her own record label, Righteous Babe Records, allowing her to maintain full creative control over her work in an industry often dominated by major labels. She won the Grammy for Best Recording Package for her 2003 album, Evolve, and is also known for albums like Not a Pretty Girl, Dilate, Little Plastic Castle, and Living in Clip.

Currently, DiFranco has many irons in the fire. This month she’s hitting the road on a worldwide tour for her latest album, Unprecedented Sh!t, which has already sold out several dates. Her memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream, which was a New York Times Top 10 bestseller in 2019, is currently being adapted into a feature, and she’s also working at the moment on The Spirit of Ani, a new non-fiction project. Previously, she’s also published the children’s books The Knowing and Show Up and Vote.

Earlier this year, DiFranco completed a five-month run on Broadway as Persephone in the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Hadestown. Her documentary 1-800-On-Her-Own, offering an intimate look at her present-day life and career, premiered at last year’s Tribeca Festival.

In addition to a Grammy, DiFranco has been the recipient of awards and honors including the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women, the Gay/Lesbian American Music Award for Female Artist of the Year, and the Woody Guthrie Award. At the 2013 Winnipeg Folk Festival, she received the Artistic Achievement Award, as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Winnipeg. Other accolades she’s earned to date include a Lifetime Achievement Award from nonprofit A2IM and the Outstanding Achievement for Global Activism Award from A Global Friendship. She was named a Champion for Justice by the National Center for Lesbian Rights in 2021.

Over the years, DiFranco has performed at countless benefit concerts, donated songs to many charity albums, and given time and energy to many progressive causes. She has advocated against the death penalty and the carceral state throughout her career, including producing and releasing an album featuring incarcerated writers, Long Time Gone, in 2020. As a strong proponent of restorative justice, she has worked closely with both The Southern Center for Human Rights and The Innocence Project. She has also beaten the drum for voter registration and turnout with “Vote Dammit” tours and sits on the board of Roots of Music, an organization that provides at-risk youth with academic support and musical education in New Orleans, as well as the creative council of EMILY’s List, which helps elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.

DiFranco continues to be represented by Paladin Artists and Invasion Group.