Joni Mitchell stands as a monumental figure in music history, celebrated for her exceptional talents as a singer, songwriter, and musician. Her journey, marked by both artistic brilliance and personal resilience, has captivated audiences for decades. Following years away from the public eye due to health challenges, Mitchell staged a remarkable comeback, reminding the world of her enduring artistry. This article delves into the life and career of this iconic artist, answering the frequently asked question: How Old Is Joni Mitchell?
Joni Mitchell’s Age and Early Life
Joni Mitchell’s birthday is November 7, 1943. This means Joni Mitchell’s age as of late 2024 is 80 years old, having celebrated this milestone birthday in November 2023. She was born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada. Her mother, Myrtle Marguerite, was a teacher, and her father, William Andrew Anderson, served as a Royal Canadian Air Force flight lieutenant before becoming a grocer after World War II.
Growing up, Joni’s family moved to various air force bases in Western Canada. She spent formative years in Maidstone and North Battleford, Saskatchewan. At the age of nine, Mitchell contracted polio, a pivotal moment in her young life. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, she revealed that she began smoking at the same age. Mitchell humorously defended her habit, stating, “It’s one of life’s great pleasures,” and quipped about its impact on her voice, “I have smoked since I was nine, so obviously it didn’t affect my early work that much.” She described finding solace in smoking, often seeking out peaceful natural settings to indulge, which provided her with a sense of well-being.
From Painting to Music: The Artistic Journey Begins
Before music became her primary focus, Joni Mitchell harbored a deep passion for painting. This artistic inclination remained a constant throughout her life; she even created the artwork for a dozen of her studio albums, many of which are self-portraits.
In a 1976 interview with Co-Evolution Quarterly, Mitchell recounted her early relationship with music: “I wasn’t into music. It’s interesting, I wanted to play the piano but I didn’t want to take lessons. I wanted to do what I do now, which is to lay my hand on it and to memorize what comes off of it and to create with it.” However, her music teacher discouraged her unconventional approach, deeming playing by ear a “sin” and suggesting she’d never learn to read sheet music due to her memorization habits. This early discouragement led her to abandon formal piano lessons.
Despite her initial piano aspirations, Mitchell turned to the guitar. Although her mother initially disapproved of the guitar, considering it a “hillbilly” instrument, Joni persevered and taught herself to play ukulele, learning Pete Seeger’s songs. She developed her own unique tunings to compensate for weakness in her left hand caused by polio. Her musical influences expanded to include jazz artists like Edith Piaf and Miles Davis.
Mitchell’s formal art training included classes at Saskatoon Technical Collegiate and later at Alberta College of Art. However, she felt stifled by the college’s approach. “So I quit there and went to Toronto to become a musician,” she explained, beginning her professional music career around the age of 20 in a non-union club.
Rising to Fame: Songs and Albums that Defined a Generation
Joni Mitchell’s career gained momentum as she busked and performed in small venues. Frustrated by the folk scene’s possessiveness over standard songs, she decided to focus on writing her own material.
Moving to the United States, she continued playing in coffeehouses and clubs during the 1960s. Her talent caught the attention of Tom Rush in Toronto, who recorded her song ‘Urge for Going’, bringing her songwriting to a wider audience. Many other artists began to recognize and record her compositions. A pivotal moment occurred when David Crosby saw her perform at the Gaslight South in Florida. Impressed, Crosby took her to Los Angeles, helping her secure management and a record deal.
Her debut album, Song to a Seagull (also known as Joni Mitchell), was released, and as she toured, her profile grew significantly. The release of Clouds in 1969 marked her breakthrough, reaching number 31 on the charts and firmly establishing Joni Mitchell as a major musical force.
Iconic Songs and Albums: A Lasting Legacy
Throughout her illustrious career, Joni Mitchell has released 19 studio albums. Among her most acclaimed works are Clouds, Ladies of the Canyon, Blue, Hejira, and Both Sides Now. Many consider her entire discography essential listening.
She has also released numerous compilations, notably the 1996 Hits and Misses collections. Hits featured her most commercially successful songs, while Misses highlighted lesser-known but equally compelling tracks.
Some of Joni Mitchell’s most famous songs include:
- Urge For Going
- Both Sides Now
- Chelsea Morning
- Big Yellow Taxi
- Woodstock
- The Circle Game
- Carey
- California
- River
- A Case of You
- You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio
- Raised on Robbery
- Help Me
- Free Man in Paris
- In France They Kiss on Main Street
- Coyote
- My Secret Place
- Come in From the Cold
- How Do You Stop
- Sex Kills
The Woodstock Enigma: Songwriter, Not Performer
One of Joni Mitchell’s most iconic songs is ‘Woodstock’, a track she debuted in 1969 shortly after the festival, later including it on her masterpiece Ladies of the Canyon in 1970.
While Mitchell’s version is widely beloved, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) also famously covered the song. Their rendition on Déjà Vu was released before Mitchell’s and became a bigger hit. CSNY were indeed performers at Woodstock, delivering a memorable 75-minute set.
However, Joni Mitchell herself did not attend Woodstock. Her manager advised her to appear on The Dick Cavett Show instead. As her former manager David Geffen recounted, “We got to the airport and I saw the TV report – 400,000 people sitting in mud – and I turned to Joni and said, ‘Let’s not go’.”
Despite varying accounts of her feelings about missing Woodstock, the experience indirectly inspired her to write the song. Crosby, Stills, and Nash, after performing at Woodstock, famously joined Joni on The Dick Cavett Show, enthusiastically sharing their festival experiences.
Paradoxically, Joni Mitchell’s absence from Woodstock and her subsequent reflections on the event, fueled by media reports and Graham Nash’s accounts, led to the creation of ‘Woodstock’. As she later acknowledged, “The deprivation of not being able to go provided me with an intense angle on Woodstock.”
Personal Life: Relationships and Family
Joni Mitchell’s personal life has been as intricate and profound as her songwriting. In 1965, she married folk singer Chuck Mitchell, though their marriage ended in divorce two years later. She retained the name “Mitchell” professionally.
Before marrying Chuck, Joni had a relationship with art student Brad MacMath. She became pregnant, but Brad left her shortly after. Joni moved in with fellow singer Vicky Taylor and gave birth to a daughter, Kelly Dale Anderson, on February 19, 1965.
Shortly after Kelly’s birth, Joni met Chuck Mitchell. Despite initial plans to raise her daughter together, they ultimately decided adoption was the best course for everyone involved. This chapter of Joni’s life remained private for decades. Her song ‘Little Green’ from Blue hinted at the adoption, with lyrics like, “So you sign all the papers in the family name / You’re sad and you’re sorry, but you’re not ashamed / Little Green, have a happy ending.”
The 1982 song ‘Chinese Cafe’ was even more explicit: “And my child’s a stranger / I bore her/ But I could not raise her.” Kelly Dale, renamed Kilauren Gibb, began searching for her biological parents. In 1993, a former art school acquaintance of Mitchell’s sold the story of Joni’s daughter to a tabloid. Joni and Kilauren reunited in 1997. Kilauren reflected on their reunion, “I didn’t come into this thing with expectations. I just wanted to find my mom… I wasn’t expecting her to be a celebrity – in fact, I was probably hoping she wasn’t, and would turn out to be someone living in a basement somewhere, keeping herself occupied with her knitting.”
Joni Mitchell’s romantic relationships have included connections with fellow artists such as Leonard Cohen, David Crosby, Graham Nash, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Sam Shephard. She married bassist Larry Klein in 1982, divorcing in 1994, though they continued to collaborate professionally, including on her 2000 album Both Sides Now.
Retirement and the Stunning Comeback
In 2009, Joni Mitchell disclosed her diagnosis of Morgellons disease and announced her retirement from the music industry. She shifted her focus to raising awareness about the condition and pursuing painting. Public appearances became rare. In 2015, she suffered a brain aneurysm rupture, further limiting her public life.
Following the aneurysm, she authorized the Joni Mitchell Archives project, releasing previously unreleased material, live recordings, and remastered editions of her classic albums.
During her recovery, Joni began hosting informal musical gatherings at her home in Laurel Canyon, dubbed “Joni Jams,” organized by Brandi Carlile. These sessions attracted a wide array of musicians, from Harry Styles to Paul McCartney. Gradually, Joni rejoined the music-making, culminating in a surprise live performance on July 24, 2022, at the Newport Folk Festival during Brandi Carlile’s set. This marked her remarkable return to the stage. She followed this with a headline show at Washington State’s Gorge Amphitheatre on June 10, 2023, and a performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards, solidifying her triumphant comeback.
Joni Mitchell’s journey is a testament to her enduring talent and spirit. Knowing how old Joni Mitchell is – a vibrant 80 years – makes her recent return to the stage even more extraordinary, celebrating a living legend whose music continues to inspire and move generations.
