Canadian singer Joni Mitchell has been awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at the Library of Congress in Washington.
The famous folk singer Joni Mitchell, with a long career strewn with rock, pop or jazz detours, was rewarded on Wednesday March 1 by the Library of Congress in Washington for all of her work. Celebrated for her independence and her many talents, the 79-year-old Canadian-born artist received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at a gala evening attended by many stars. He notably paid tribute to Annie Lennox, Herbie Hancock, Cyndi Lauper, Graham Nash, Diana Krall or Angelique Kidjo.
Last night, the @LibnOfCongress welcomed @jonimitchell & some of the performers celebrating her at tonight’s #GershwinPrize concert to the Library. The concert tunes on @PBS stations on March 31. pic.twitter.com/jsunnERtd9
—Library of Congress (@librarycongress) March 1, 2023
Singer-songwriter, musician, lyricist and artist-painter, Joni Mitchell was diminished in 2015 by a ruptured aneurysm, after which her appearances were rare. It was then believed lost for the music. It was without counting on her iron will, which she channeled into grueling rehabilitation sessions.
An unexpected comeback
In July 2022, she made an unexpected return to the stage, giving a surprise concert at the folk festival in Newport, in the eastern United States. We saw her guitar in hand, playing Just Like This Train and proving that she retained all of her musical gifts. She had sung A Case of Youone of his great classics, in duet with another folk star, Brandi Carlile.
Joni Mitchell was a major figure in the folk-rocker generation of the 1960s with hits like Big Yellow Taxia hymn to the environment, Both Sides Now And Woodstockto the glory of the famous festival in which she had not yet participated in August 1969. Among the prestigious predecessors of Joni Mitchell to have received the Gershwin prize for popular song, named after brothers George and Ira Gershwin, are Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, or even Paul McCartney.