The incomparable Joni Mitchell made her Grammys debut performance in her nearly six-decade-long career.
While the 10-time Grammy winner has been on the Grammys stage to accept her numerous accolades before, she has never performed — until now. Accompanied by Brandi Carlile, Blake Mills, Lucius, Jacob Collier, Allison Russell and SistaStrings, the singer performed an emotional rendition of her hit 1966 song “Both Sides Now,” at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles Sunday evening.
Carlile, a friend and fellow Grammy winner, introduced Mitchell to the audience, saying that the 80-year-old folk singer has survived poverty, polio and a stroke – and even relearned how to sing and walk after her 2015 brain aneurysm. Carlile added that Mitchell has come a long way since then and is “the matriarch of the imagination.”
Sitting in a white throne-like chair with golden accents, Mitchell wore a black beret and black velvet outfit while she sang into a gold microphone and had sparkly cane to match. Moreover, Mitchell and her musical crew were lit with surrounding chandeliers as they performed her hit song and audience members like Meryl Streep, Beyoncé and Dua Lipa all watched, enraptured.
Mitchell was met with a standing ovation when the performance came to a close. Host Trevor Noah then handed Mitchell a Grammy for her 2023 live album, “Joni Mitchell at Newport,” which won for best folk album during the Grammys pre-show.