Those on hand at the MGM Garden Arena for the 64th Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony were treated to a special treat: Joni Mitchell. The 78-yea-old living legend and music icon accepted her award for the Best Historical Album in person. The “Big Yellow Taxi” singer won for her album Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967), and she looked resplendent in white with a red beret and matching necklace. She also brought the cool factor with a pair of slick sunglasses and her blonde locks in chic tails.
“Thank you!” she said in a short speech, according to Pitchfork. “Much thanks to the Academy for this nomination and for this win. I didn’t expect this. I’d like to thank my dream team that help me put it together. The folks at Rhino, Patrick and Dorian, Lisa, and to Marcy, who’s my assistant in all of this and she keeps me on schedule, thanks very much. And to Sultoon here, who is my physical therapist and who is my angel.”
“And to Cameron Crowe, who wrote the liner notes on this project and is also a dear friend,” added Mitchell. “And to Frank, my manager, thank you, Frank, for all your assistance in this thing. And everybody at Rhino who made the package so beautiful. Thank you.” Later in the evening, Joni joined Bonnie Raitt to introduce Brandi Carlile’s performance.
Joni’s Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1 beat out Prince (Sign O’ The Times (Super Deluxe Edition)), Marian Anderson (Beyond The Music: Her Complete RCA Victor Recordings), and two great collections: Etching The Voice: Emile Berliner and the First Commercial Gramophone Discs, 1889-1895 and Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History of the World’s Music.
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— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) April 4, 2022
On Friday (Apr. 1), Jonie was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year. Billy Porter honored Joni with a rendition of “Both Sides Now,” and both Brandi and Jon Batiste performed some of Mitchell’s biggest hits, per Billboard. “When I heard that Joni was named Person of the Year, I knew I wanted to be involved in a meaningful way,” Batiste said. “Brandi and I worked with the producers to paint a beautiful picture of poetry and music through Joni’s eyes.”
