Full Name: Roberta Joan Anderson
Profession: Singer-Songwriter
Biography: Joni helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi", "Woodstock", "Both Sides Now", and "A Case Of You".
Her wide-ranging contralto vocals and distinctive open-tuned guitar and piano compositions grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she explored jazz, melding it with influences of folk, rock and roll, R&B, classical music, and non-western beats.
She has garnered many awards, including 9 Grammys and 3 Junos. Her catalog includes 6 gold and 3 platinum albums. 1971's album "Blue" consistently appears on critics' all-time best lists, and 1974's "Court And Spark" has sold over 2 million copies. Her catalog includes 19 studio and 5 live albums
Prior to her 1st marriage, Mitchell gave birth to a daughter who was put up for adoption. This was not public knowledge, although clues can be found in some of her song lyrics, until a tabloid revelation in 1993. She met her daughter for the first time in 1997. She has since spoken of the absent child as the muse for much of songwriting.
By the turn of the century, she had became disenchanted with the music industry, and released two albums of orchestrally backed jazz versions of standards and reworks of her own material to fulfill her recording contract and completed a brief retirement tour. She turned her focus to a more private world of painting.
She released one new album of original songs in 2007.
In March 2015, Mitchell suffered a brain aneurysm which largely incapacitated her. She needed extensive therapy for both physical and speech issues.
Born: November 7, 1943
Birthplace: Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada
Age: 80 years old
Generation: Silent Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Goat/Sheep
Star Sign: Scorpio
Career Highlights
- 1965-04-29 Canadian folk singer-songwriter Joni Anderson (soon to be known as Joni Mitchell) meets American folk singer and future husband Chuck Mitchell at a gig in Toronto, Ontario
- 1967-07-16 Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell makes her Newport Folk Festival debut at a songwriters' workshop performance in Newport, Rhode Island
- 1968-03-23 Reprise Records releases "Song To A Seagull", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's debut studio album
- 1969-05-01 Reprise Records releases "Clouds", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 2nd studio album
- 1969-08-01 3-day Atlantic City Pop Festival opens at the Atlantic City Race Course in Hamilton Township, New Jersey; performers include: Procol Harum; Joni Mitchell; Chicago; Santana; Little Richard; Booker T and the MG's; Sir Douglas Quintet; Janis Joplin; Jefferson Airplane, B.B. King; The Byrds; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Tim Buckley; Hugh Masekela; Dr. John; and The Mothers of Invention; attendance estimated at 110,000
- 1970-03-02 Reprise Records releases "Ladies of the Canyon", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 3rd studio album
- 1971-06-22 Reprise Records releases "Blue", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 4th studio album
- 1974-01-17 Asylum Records releases "Court and Spark", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 6th studio album; features the songs "Help Me" and "Free Man In Paris", it becomes her biggest seller
- 1976-11-25 The Band's farewell concert at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California; guest performers include Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, and the Staples Singers; concert film "The Last Waltz" directed by Martin Scorcese
- 1977-12-13 Asylum Records releases "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 9th studio album;
- 1979-06-13 Asylum Records releases "Mingus", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 10th studio album
- 1981-02-05 Joni Mitchell inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame
- 1985-09-22 First Farm Aid benefit concert, Champaign, Illinois; organized by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp; performers included Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Hoyt Axton, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, and Emmylou Harris
- 1986-06-15 Amnesty International "Conspiracy of Hope" tour concludes with mega-concert at Giants Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey; participants include: U2; Sting; Bryan Adams; Peter Gabriel; Lou Reed; Neville Brothers; Joan Baez; Joan Armatrading; Joni Mitchell; The Police; Jackson Browne; Yoko Ono; Miles Davis; Peter, Paul & Mary; and The Hooters
- 1988-03-23 Geffen Records releases "Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 13th studio album
- 1990-07-21 Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is performed where the Berlin Wall once stood; charity concert led by Roger Waters, with guests Cyndi Lauper, Joni Mitchell, The Scorpions,; Sinéad O'Connor, Bryan Adams, The Band, Van Morrison, The Hooters, and others
- 1991-02-19 Geffen Records releases "Night Ride Home", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 14th studio album
- 1994-10-25 Reprise Records releases "Turbulent Indigo", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 15th studio album; wins Grammy Award for Best Pop Album
- 1997-05-06 12th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Bee Gees; Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills & Nash; The Jackson Five; Joni Mitchell; Parliament-Funkadelic; The (Young) Rascals; Mahalia Jackson; Bill Monroe; and Syd Nathan
- 1998-09-29 Reprise Records releases "Taming The Tiger", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 16th studio album
- 2000-02-08 Reprise Records releases "Both Sides Now", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 17th studio album, a collection of torch songs, including re-worked versions of two of her own, backed by an orchestra
- 2000-06-02 SInger-songwriter Joni Mitchell completes her retirement "Both Sides Now Tour Of America" at the Blockbuster/Sony Entertainment Centre in Camden, New Jersey
- 2002-02-27 Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell receives Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2002-11-19 Nonesuch Records releases "Travelogue", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 18th studio album, a collection of re-worked versions her own songs, backed by an orchestra
- 2007-09-25 Herbie Hancock releases "River: The Joni Letters" tribute to Joni Mitchell (Grammy Album of the Year, 2008)
- 2007-09-25 Hear Music/Universal Records releases "Shine", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 19th studio album
- 2021-12-05 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony held for singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, singer-actress Bette Midler, record mogul Berry Gordy, producer Lorne Michaels and opera singer Justino Diaz, with President Biden attending,in Washington D.C.
- 2022-07-24 Singer-songwriter icon Joni Mitchell makes a surprise concert appearance, joining Brandi Carlile at Newport Folk Festval; Mitchell's first public performance in 19 years
- 2023-03-01 Canadian-American singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell receives Library of Congress Gershwin Prize at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
Personal Life
- 1965-06-19 Canadian folk singer-songwriter Joni Anderson (henceforth known as Joni Mitchell) weds American folk singer Chuck Mitchell in Port Huron, Michigan; divorce in 1967
- 1982-11-21 Canadian singer Joni Mitchell (39) weds American bassist Larry Klein (26) in Malibu, California; divorce in 1994
References
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