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Here's a look at the life of singer, songwriter and painter Joni Mitchell.
Birthdate: November 7, 1943
Place of birth: Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada
Birth name: Roberta Joan Anderson
Father: William “Bill” Anderson, Air Force officer and grocer
Mother: Myrtle (McKee) Anderson, teacher
Marriages: Larry Klein, (1982-1994, divorced); Chuck Mitchell (1965-1967, divorced)
Children: with Brad MacMath: Kelly Dale Anderson (renamed Kilauren Gibb), 1965
Education: Attended Alberta College of Art in Calgary, 1963-1964
She taught herself to play the guitar, ukulele and dulcimer.
She is known for her difficult musical compositions, alternative guitar tunings, and unusual chord changes.
Nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and won 10, and received a lifetime achievement award.
Although one of his most popular songs is called “Woodstock,” he was not present at the famous 1969 music festival.
His own paintings and drawings have appeared on some of his album covers, as well as those of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
He contracted polio at age 9.
March 1968 – Their first album, “Song for a Seagull,” is released. The album is also known as “Joni Mitchell.”
March 11, 1970 – Wins a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance or Recording for “Clouds.”
March 1, 1975 – Wins a Grammy Award for Best Accompaniment Vocal Arrangement for “Down to You.”
1977 – He begins a collaboration with jazz musician Charlie Mingus in a performance of TS Eliot's “Four Quartets.” Mingus dies of Lou Gehrig's disease before completing the project, but Mitchell finishes the album. “Mingus” is released in 1979.
February 28, 1996 – He wins a Grammy Award for Best Pop Album, as well as a Grammy for Best Recording Package with “Turbulent Indigo.”
March 1997 – Mitchell and the daughter she gave up for adoption, now known as Kilauren Gibb, are reunited after 32 years apart.
May 1997 – He is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
February 21, 2001- Wins a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for “Both Sides Now.”
2002 – Receives a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.
2007 – He composes the music for “The Fiddle and the Drum” with the Alberta Ballet.
September 25, 2007 – He releases his latest studio album, “Shine”.
February 10, 2008 – He wins a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “One Week Last Summer” and receives another Grammy for his contribution to Herbie Hancock's album of the Year winner, “River: The Joni Letters.”
April 22, 2010 – In a Los Angeles Times article, Mitchell describes suffering from a “strange, incurable disease” called Morgellons. She describes the symptoms as “various colored fibers protruding from my skin like mushrooms after a storm: they cannot be forensically identified as animals, plants or minerals.”
2010 – Mitchell's song, “Both Sides Now,” appears at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
March 31, 2015 – Mitchell is hospitalized after being found unconscious in her Los Angeles home.
June 2015 – A conservator for Mitchell issues a statement that the musician has suffered a brain aneurysm, but is expected to make a full recovery.
February 15, 2016 – He wins the Grammy for best album notes for “Love has many faces: a quartet, a ballet, waiting to be danced.”
August 20, 2016 – Attend a Chick Corea concert in Los Angeles; It is the first time she has been seen in public since his brain aneurysm.
October 2017 – David Yaffe’s biography “Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell” is published. The book is based on interviews with Mitchell, as well as her childhood friends and fellow celebrities who inspired her songs.
November 6 and 7, 2018 – Artists gather to celebrate Mitchell's 75th birthday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The lineup includes Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Graham Nash, James Taylor, Rufus Wainwright and Brandi Carlile.
February 7, 2019 – “The Music Center Presents Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration” is showing in movie theaters for one night. The special includes the full concert and interviews with the artists.
December 5, 2021 – Receives Kennedy Center Honors.
April 3, 2022 – Wins the Grammy for Best Historical Album for “Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967).”
July 25, 2022 – Performs at the Newport Folk Festival.
March 1, 2023 – Receives the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
June 10, 2023 – She headlines “Joni Jam,” a concert hosted by Brandi Carlile at the Gorge Amphitheater in Gorge, Washington.
January 28, 2024 – The Recording Academy announces that Mitchell will perform at the Grammy Awards for the first time on February 4.
