Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell
CC
Mitchell in December 2021
Born
Roberta Joan Anderson

(1943-11-07) November 7, 1943 (age 81)
Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada
Other names
  • Roberta Joan Mitchell
  • Joni Anderson
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • United States
Spouses
Chuck Mitchell
​
​
(m. 1965; div. 1967)​
​
​
(m. 1982; div. 1994)​
Children1
Musical career
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • painter
Instruments
DiscographyJoni Mitchell discography
Years active
  • 1964–2002
  • 2006–2007
  • 2013
  • 2022–present
Labels
Websitejonimitchell.com
Signature
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Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell CC (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her personal lyrics and unconventional compositions which grew to incorporate pop and jazz elements.[1] Among her accolades are eleven Grammy Awards, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever",[2] and AllMusic has stated, "Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century."[1]

Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968.[3] Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the greatest albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[4] rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition.[5] In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music".[6] NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made By Women.[7]

Mitchell began exploring more jazz-influenced ideas on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris"[8] and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to that of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975.[9][10][11] Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. Starting in the mid-1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings.[12] She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.[13]

Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums and designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".[14] A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 19th and last album of original songs in 2007. She gave occasional interviews and made appearances to speak on various causes over the next two decades, though the rupture of a brain aneurysm in 2015 led to a long period of recovery and therapy. A series of retrospective compilations were released over the time period, culminating in the Joni Mitchell Archives, a project to publish much of the unreleased material from her long career. She returned to public appearances in 2021, accepting several awards in person, including a Kennedy Center Honor.[15] Mitchell returned to live performance with an unannounced show at the June 2022 Newport Folk Festival and has made several other appearances since, including a headlining show in 2023.

  1. ^ a b "Joni Mitchell Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011.
  2. ^ Wild, David (October 31, 2002). "Joni Mitchell" (reprint). Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2007.
  3. ^ "The Independent". UK. August 10, 2007. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  4. ^ "The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (Blue is listed at No. 30)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 23, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  5. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 50–1". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  6. ^ Pareles, Jon; Strauss, Neil; Ratliff, Ben & Powers, Ann (January 3, 2000). "Critics' Choices; Albums as Mileposts in a Musical Century". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  7. ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia (July 24, 2017). "The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women". National Public Radio. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  8. ^ Ankeny, Jason. All Music Guide
  9. ^ Montagne, Renee (December 9, 2014). "The Music Midnight Makes: In Conversation With Joni Mitchell". NPR. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  10. ^ Pleasants, Henry (February 1978). "Three Throats". Windsor Star. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  11. ^ Hopper, Jessica (November 9, 2012). "Joni Mitchell: The Studio Albums 1968–1979". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  12. ^ "Joni & Jazz". SFJAZZ Blog. January 28, 2015. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  13. ^ "Joni Mitchell". Grammy Awards. May 14, 2017. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  14. ^ "I sing my sorrow and I paint my joy". The Globe and Mail. June 8, 2000. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference kennedy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).