Judy Collins is tougher and busier than ever as an octogenarian

Most octogenarians who break a bone take it easy. But not Judy Collins. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter busted her elbow in Pittsburgh last month, which forced her to postpone her Iron City show.

Two weeks after the accident, Collins had surgery and was back on the road days later.

That’s impressive for a performer of any age, but Collins is 83 and akin to a musical shark.

“I can’t stop performing or moving for that matter,” Collins said while calling from Berkeley, California. “I missed enough time playing in front of an audience due to the pandemic. After I broke my elbow, I wanted to get back out as soon as possible. I just didn’t know how surgery would go and what would be next.”

So she called a dear old friend, Stephen Stills, and asked how he dealt with the same injury, which he suffered in 2017. Stills assured Collins she would be fine.

Collins and Stills were a famous couple in the Laurel Canyon scene during the mid-1960s.

When the pair splintered, Stills was inspired to craft the Crosby, Stills & Nash classic, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”

“When Stephen first played it for me, I was dazzled,” Collins said. “Our affair had just fizzled and he came over for my birthday when I was living in Santa Monica in 1967. He gave me a gorgeous Martin guitar. But I told him it’s not going to get me back. But we’ve remained friends ever since. It was such a great time back then.”

The Seattle native enjoyed a great deal of success. “Both Sides Now,” which was written by her friend, Joni Mitchell, peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard pop singles chart. Collins’ versions of “Chelsea Morning,” also penned by Mitchell, and “Turn! Turn! Turn!, which was written by Pete Seeger, also charted during the 1960s.

Many of Collins’ hits are covers.

“I didn’t write songs until Leonard Cohen told me that he didn’t understand why I wasn’t writing my own songs,” Collins said. “After he told me this in 1966, I went home and I wrote. It never occurred to me to write songs because there were so many great songs to be sung. I loved the songs of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Tom Paxton, among many other recording artists, but I’m glad I started writing songs.

“It’s a terrific way to express yourself. I like to challenge myself and write as much as possible.”

“Judith,” released in 1975, became Collins’ best-selling album. The platinum release was buoyed by Collins’ version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns.”

“It’s been a great career,” Collins said. “I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve accomplished a great deal, but it’s not over yet. Quite a few of the songs I sung from back in the day were written by other people. I’m writing more of my own songs now. Each day is always full for me.”

Most of Collins’ contemporaries are retired or focus on other types of art.

“But there’s no reason I should stop singing and writing songs,” Collins said. “I love what I do and people still come out to see me. I could sit at home, but I won’t.”

“(Breaking an elbow) wasn’t going to stop me,” Collins said. “I’m tougher than that.”

Surgery couldn’t stop Collins. The same goes for COVID. Collins continued to write and communicated with friends via Zoom. It helped that Collins was in good spirits prior to the pandemic. Collins performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 2019.

Collins sang with Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold and Brandi Carlile.

“I had a great time during that festival,” Collins said. “It reminded me of how it was back in the day. What’s great is that I’m not stopping. I’m just continuing to do what I enjoy most. There is no feeling like getting up onstage and you get that feeling at any age.”