Martyn Joseph (born 15 July 1960) is a Welsh singer-songwriter whose music exhibits primarily a brand of Celtic and folk, while his songwriting is often focussed on social lament or protest.

His second and final release under Sony, the self-titled Martyn Joseph,[3] was produced by Mick Glossop, whose previous work included albums with The Waterboys.

His first release under Grapevine featured the fourth track "Ballad of Richard Lewis", a homage to the Welsh labourer and hero better known as Dic Penderyn,[7] who was sentenced to death after leading the Merthyr Rising of 1831.

Drawing from possible past experiences with Sony, Joseph stated, "I'm not dependent on Robbie Williams' diary or Madonna's film schedule for when [my songs] get released.

"[1] Joseph began publishing work under a new medium, a news magazine entitled The Passport Queue, the name of which was taken from a line in the song "Everything in Heaven".

[8] The eighth track, entitled "The Good in Me is Dead", written from the perspective of a Kosovo refugee in light of the Balkan atrocities, reflects Joseph's penchant for writing about social tragedies and injustice.

The next year, in 2001, Joseph compiled a two-disc best-of album entitled Thunder and Rainbows – The Best We Could Find comprising 31 of his previous favourites and two new songs.

In the midst of the controversial war in Iraq, Joseph's next album, Deep Blue, featured the highly political tracks "Yet Still This Will Not Be" and "How Did We End Up Here".

Joseph mused in an interview with a folk music website, "I bet, in his private moments alone, deep down, Tony Blair the person regrets what he did in Iraq".

Joseph has performed as a support act for a variety of artists, such as Chris de Burgh, Marc Cohn, Joan Armatrading, Art Garfunkel, Janis Ian, and Suzanne Vega.

In his early career, he experimented with an accompanied arrangement in his live shows, having been assigned drummer Pete Thomas from the Attractions by his Sony label.

"[10] Focusing his attention towards trade justice, third world debt cancellation and human rights, Joseph has been involved with Brazil's MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra), Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Casa Alianza, the Stephen Lewis Foundation, Jubilee 2000 and Advantage Africa.

[10] In May 2004, in the wake of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Joseph released a five-track EP, The Great American Novel, with all proceeds designated to War Child.

[10] In 2014 he launched his "Let Yourself Trust", a not-for-profit organisation which aims to challenge what he perceives to be injustice, educating via advocacy, campaigning for human rights, and raising issues otherwise ignored.