BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ani DiFranco is a Grammy winner, a Buffalo girl and now her talents will be for all to see on Broadway.
She is starring in Hadestown. Her role
"My journey to Broadway is probably one of the weirder ones," DiFranco said.
DiFranco was one of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990. A folksinger who incorporated punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul, and electronica into her music.
Now she's on stage playing the role of Persephone.
"I never imagined myself here. I never had the Broadway dream. You know I didn't know that but, instead, I have this sort of very long circuitous relationship with the show," Ani said during an interview with Two On Your Side's Pete Gallivan.
The creator of Hadestown asked Ani to not only produce but also sing the part of Persephone, the role she is now playing on Broadway.
You can read more about Ani in her memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream.
DiFranco, a graduate of the Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts. She smiled when looking through a high school yearbook.
She had a tough childhood. She talked about her look when she had flowing long hair before she moved to New York, "I shaved all my hair off."
Ani started Righteous Babe Records at the age of 19.
New Orleans is home, but her roots are in Buffalo.
According to her bio, Ani has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including a Grammy for Best Album Package (Evolve), 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 prestigious Artistic Achievement Award and an honorary doctorate from the University of Winnipeg. In 2017, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from A2IM (a nonprofit trade organization that represents independent record labels) and the Outstanding Achievement for Global Activism Award from A Global Friendship. In 2021 she was named a Champion for Justice by the National Center for Lesbian Rights.