Joni Mitchell made a rare appearance at the Grammys on Sunday evening, performing “Both Sides, Now.”
Accompanied by Brandi Carlile, Lucius, Allison Russell and others, it marked Mitchell’s first time playing the lauded industry event. She is now a 10-time Grammy winner, having won this year’s award for Best Folk Album with Joni Mitchell at Newport.
“She redefined the very purpose of a song to reflect the contents of a person’s soul,” Carlile said before the performance, describing Mitchell as “the matriarch of imagination.”
Prior to this year’s show, Mitchell’s most recent Grammy win occurred in 2022, when she won Best Historical Album for the first installment of her archival series, Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967).
Joni Mitchell’s Gradual Return to the Stage
In 2015, Mitchell suffered a brain aneurysm that left her unable to walk and talk, skills she was then forced to re-learn. With the help of fellow musicians like Brandi Carlile, she also slowly began playing music again, often gathering with others in her home for casual sessions affectionately dubbed “Joni Jams.”
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In 2022, Mitchell made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, where she performed a handful of songs with Carlile. Just about a year after that, Mitchell performed at the Gorge Amphitheater in Quincy, Washington, her first headlining, ticketed concert since 2002. She appeared alongside Carlile and various other celebrated musicians, including Annie Lennox, Wendy Melvoin, Allison Russell, Marcus Mumford, Sarah McLachlan and others.
“[I’ve] watched one of the most miraculous things I’ve seen in my life,” Carlile said at that show, “and now you get to see it.”