Joni Mitchell's Life in Photos

As one of the most prolific musicians of her generation, Joni Mitchell has inspired countless artists with her songwriting and musical style. To celebrate her 80th birthday, here's a look back at some of the biggest moments in her career so far

Roberta Joan Anderson was born in Alberta, Canada, on Nov. 7, 1943. As a young girl she and her family moved to Saskatchewan where she would explore her artistry, both as a musician as the world would come to know and as a painter.

By 1964, her music career would begin to take off as she started playing shows at venues around Canada, per her website. And in the decades since, she's become an integral part of the American canon, and a trailblazer for the female singer-songwriters who have followed in her footsteps.

As Mitchell turns 80, celebrate with a look at her life and career in photos.

Joni Mitchell's First Marriage and Child

In the early '60s, Joni found out she was pregnant with an ex-boyfriend's child. She placed the baby for adoption following her marriage to fellow musician Chuck Mitchell in 1965. Later in life, Joni reconnected with her daughter.

Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins

Chuck and Joni went their separate ways, and in 1967 she moved to New York City and continued performing. One of Mitchell's first hits came that year when Judy Collins recorded her song "Both Sides, Now," The New York Times explained in a review of a 2017 biography.

Joni Mitchell and David Crosby

In 1967, Mitchell met David Crosby (later of Crosby, Stills and Nash) who by some accounts "discovered" her and produced her first album, Song to a Seagull. They recorded the album together in Los Angeles and dated for some time as well.

"It just pushed me up against the back wall," Crosby told Vanity Fair of the first time he saw Mitchell perform at a coffeehouse in Florida. "Even at the beginning she was very independent and already writing better than almost anybody."

Joni Mitchell and Elliot Roberts

At the start of her career, Mitchell was introduced to Elliot Roberts, who would become her manager. He, along with David Geffen, helped catapult Mitchell's career.

Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen

Mitchell apparently met Leonard Cohen — another great of her generation — for the first time at the Newport Folk Festival in 1967 (above.) The two became friends and even entered into a romantic relationship.

Joni Mitchell in Laurel Canyon

Mitchell purchased a home in Laurel Canyon, California, in the late 1960s and lived among some of the biggest stars in music at the time including Crosby, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, the Mamas and the Papas, Carole King and the Eagles. She later sold that home and bought a piece of property near the water in British Columbia for more privacy, per her website.

Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash

The group of musicians who lived in the area spent lots of time together, collaborating, partying and just plain socializing. Mitchell and Nash ended up dating during this time. Her ex (and Nash's bandmate) Crosby called him "the best of us for her" when talking to Howard Stern about his relationship with the singer.

Mitchell told Vanity Fair that she believes her house in Laurel Canyon is where Crosby, Stills and Nash first sang together.

Joni Mitchell on 'Mama Cass'

Part of the Laurel Canyon crew was the band the Mamas and the Papas, which was made up of John Phillips, Cass Elliot, Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty. In 1969, Mitchell was featured along with Mary Travers and John Sebastian for a one-time variety show called The Mama Cass Variety Program hosted by Elliot — a.k.a. Mama Cass.

Joni Mitchell and James Taylor

Mitchell and James Taylor recorded vocals for Carole King's album Tapestry circa 1970, around the time the two were dating. The pair collaborated on numerous occasions, with Taylor playing on her album Blue, and have remained friends. Taylor has said that his song "You Can Close Your Eyes" was written for Mitchell.

Joni Mitchell's Grammy Awards

Mitchell won her first of nine Grammy Awards in 1970 for her second album, Clouds. To date, she has a total of 17 nominations.

Joni Mitchell's 'Blue'

Blue, released in 1971, has many times over been considered not only Mitchell's best album, but one of the best albums of all time. In 2017 the album topped NPR Music's list of the 150 greatest albums made by women and No. 3 on Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the 500 best albums of all time. In this photo, taken around the time the album was released, she holds an Appalachian dulcimer, which she played on numerous songs.

Joni Mitchell Goes Back to Her Roots

Mitchell first performed at the Mariposa Folk Festival when she was still going by Joan Anderson in 1965, per the festival's website. She returned the following four years and on various occasions throughout her career, like here, in 1972.

Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock

Mitchell and award-winning jazz pianist Herbie Hancock posed together backstage at the 1978 Bread and Roses benefit concert. The two are longtime friends and collaborators; he first played for her on her 1979 project Mingus, per the JazzTimes. In 2007, Hancock released the Grammy Award-winning album, River: The Joni Letters, which covered songs written by Mitchell.

Joni Mitchell's Albums 'Mingus' and 'Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'

For her ninth studio album, in 1977, Mitchell released Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, which would cause some controversy for the songwriter in years that followed. For the cover art, Mitchell chose to pose in Blackface as a character she had debuted at a Halloween party the year prior, the BBC reported.

In 1979, Mitchell released her 10th studio album, Mingus, on which she collaborated and recorded with jazz musician Charles Mingus just months before his death.

Joni Mitchell's Second Marriage

In 1982, Mitchell married her second husband, fellow musician Larry Klein. The two were married for 12 years.

Joni Mitchell's Painting

In addition to her immeasurable talents as a songwriter and musician, Mitchell also loves to paint, with her art often featured on the covers of her records.

"I'm a painter first," she told Jian Ghomeshi for CBC Radio in 2013. According to Garage, 12 of her 19 studio album covers are her own paintings — most of which are self-portraits.

Joni Mitchell at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

Mitchell performed at the 1995 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Joni Mitchell: A Tribute to a Legend

In 2000, TNT aired an "All-Star Tribute to Joni Mitchell," which featured performances by Cyndi Lauper, Taylor, Cassandra Wilson, Richard Thompson, Shawn Colvin and Elton John. The concert took place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

Joni Mitchell's 'Shine'

In 2007, Mitchell released her last studio album to date, Shine.

Joni Mitchell's Health Issues

In the years since she released Shine, Mitchell has stepped away from performing and the spotlight in general (as she has at various other points in her career). In 2015, the singer, who survived polio as a child, had a brain aneurysm, which led to her having to relearn how to walk and talk. For years, the singer had also been dealing with Morgellons disease, which she described to the Los Angeles Times as "this weird, incurable disease that seems like it's from outer space." The Mayo Clinc describes it as "a condition characterized by a belief that parasites or fibers are emerging from the skin."

Joni Mitchell at the Kennedy Center Honors

In 2021, Mitchell was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor alongside Bette Mider, Berry Gordy, Lorne Michaels and Justino Díaz.

Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile

Mitchell and Brandi Carlile first became friends in 2018 when Carlile performed in a 75th birthday tribute concert to Mitchell, the Los Angeles Times reported. Prior to COVID-19, Carlile was one of the artists who would gather at Mitchell's home for a jam session of sorts with singers like Dolly Parton, Harry Styles and Chaka Khan.

"We get people together in the living room and around the instruments and we eat dinner and Joni drinks her Pinot Grigio," Carlile told Apple Music's Zane Lowe in May 2020. "She likes Santa Margarita Pino Grigio. Headache wine. Yeah, she is a boss. We drink wine and we do music and, man, we had the best one in the plans."

In 2022, Carlile spearheaded Mitchell's return to stage for the first time in two decades for her surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. In October it was announced that the two will take the stage together in June 2023 at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington for two shows named "Echoes Through the Canyon."

Joni Mitchell as MusiCares Person of the Year

In April 2022, Mitchell as honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year.

For well three hours, guests wined and dined while listening to selection of iconic and modern-day artists including Carlile, Beck, John Legend and Mickey Guyton cover Mitchell's songs.

Joni Mitchell's Return to the Stage

Mitchell made a surprise appearance — and performance — at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island, which marked her first full set since she headlined a benefit concert in Los Angeles in 2002, and her first public performance since 2013, when she sang briefly at a concert tribute in Toronto, according to her website.

For the occasion, Mitchell joined artists like Carlile, Marcus Mumford and Wynonna Judd on stage and sang 13 songs, including classics like "A Case of You," "Both Sides Now" and "Big Yellow Taxi."

In an essay for U.K. outlet The Times, Carlile explained how the performance came to be. She said after they both attended the 2022 Grammys and the Recording Academy's charity MusiCares' concert thrown in Mitchell's honor, the two agreed to perform at the festival.

She said that ahead of the performance, though, Mitchell had developed some apprehension. She worried about expectations, so Carlile decided to give her a FaceTime call and chat through it. "We had one of the best conversations we've ever had," she wrote.

"I said, 'Joni, since we all met you, we've all started working together, we've become a family. You've created a community around you,'" she recalled. "'All we want to do is just sit there in a circle and sing to show you what you've done for us. And if you sing along, f---ing awesome; if you don't, we're just so happy to be with you. This is our way of thanking you. We don't want you to feel like there's something that you have to do.' "

Joni Mitchell's First Broadway Show

Just ahead of her birthday, Mitchell took in her first Broadway musical as she attended opening night of Almost Famous at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Nov. 3, 2022.

Following the performance, Mitchell was invited onstage for an intimate toast. In photos shared exclusively with PEOPLE, the singer posed with the cast and crew of the musical adaptation — including Cameron Crowe, who wrote and directed the 2000 film of the same name.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Mitchell said she liked the stage show "even better than the movie."

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