Legendary Singer Chooses Medical Aid in Dying: Barbara Dane Passes Away at 97

Revered singer Barbara Dane died on Sunday in Oakland, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. The news outlet, who spoke to Dane’s family, reports that she “availed herself of medical aid in dying after a long struggle with heart failure.” She was 97.

Some terminally ill California residents can choose medical aid in dying due to the California End of Life Option Act. Per UCLA, the process, which involves multiple consultations and examinations, is available to those who “have a terminal disease that cannot be cured or reversed and is expected to result in death within six months” and “have the capacity to make medical decisions and not have impaired judgment due to a mental disorder.”

The “Nine Hunderd Miles” and “Little Maggie” singer took the aid in dying drug at her home in California “surrounded by family and friends.”

The beloved blues and jazz vocalist appeared alongside numerous music legends throughout her career, including Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Pete Seeger, Willie Dixon, Lightning Hopkins, The Chambers Brothers and Doc Watson. Dane was also incredibly politically active, especially during the Vietnam War. She released an album titled FTA! Songs of the GI Resistance 1970, followed by I Hate the Capitalist System in 1973.

Bob Dylan once praised her work and commitment to political causes by telling Broadside (per Far Out) in 1964, “The heroes of this battle are not me and Joan (Baez) and the Kingston Trio nor Peter Paul and Mary, for none of us need to go on that show. None of us really need that kind of dumbness, but there’s some that could use it for they could use the money. I mean people like Tom Paxton, Barbara Dane, and Johnny Herald… they are the heroes if such a word has to be used here they are the ones that lose materialistically. Ah yes, but in their own minds, they don’t, and that is much more important. It means much more. We need more kind [of] people like that people that can’t go against their conscience, no matter what they might gain, and I’ve come to think that that might be the most important thing in the whole wide world.”

Dane’s legacy also includes her musical family. She is the mother of singer Jesse Cahn, singer Nina Menendez, and Pablo Menendez of the rock band Mezcala. Her grandson, Osamu Menendez, is also a musician.

In May, another beloved entertainer, comedian Geraldine Doyle, notably also chose medical aid in dying. Doyle, who was ill with cancer, opted to die by Australia’s dying with dignity process, known as Voluntary Assisted Dying.