26 Comments
User's avatar
Deirdre Lewis's avatar

What a gift, all these photos and videos and links! Thank you. It's really astonishing that she wrote that song at 24.

Expand full comment
Jillian Hess's avatar

Of course she’s a cat lady! Love it!

Expand full comment
Bailey Richardson's avatar

Right!?

Expand full comment
Rena Robinett's avatar

My favorite time seeing her was the Celebration at Big Sur with CSN and Joan Baez in 1969. I drove down from SF.

Expand full comment
Bailey Richardson's avatar

Wow, Rena, that's amazing! What a memory

Expand full comment
Tom Cheetham's avatar

made me cry. too much for this old guy.

Expand full comment
Patris's avatar

Not alone, Tom.

Expand full comment
Sharon Hays's avatar

Thank you for this immense treat. I am feeling peaceful after that.

Expand full comment
Bernadine Franco's avatar

outstanding essay! What resonated with me is her comfort to perform in a small venue like a cafe and how her teacher encouraged a "struggling" Joni to write poetry. Her life is woven with so much meaning in glorious simplicity.

Expand full comment
The Chaos Trials's avatar

She is just so cute.

Expand full comment
Jo's avatar

Makes me feel better about not knowing what life's about after almost 67 years of living....

Always a good day when Joni Mitchell pops up in a random pandora channel of mine

Expand full comment
Maggie Summers's avatar

Joni is an incredibly gifted singer/songwriter. Her music is iconic. Thank you for the wonderful compilation of her life and music career.

Expand full comment
Pope Buck I's avatar

Was that middle clip (where she's introduced by Tony Bennett) from the same tribute concert where Diana Krall sang "A Case of You" and k.d. lang did "Help Me"? I have long wanted that concert on DVD.

Expand full comment
Bailey Richardson's avatar

I’m not sure!!

Expand full comment
Sally Hope Woodroffe's avatar

One of the greatest Singer songwriters such an inspiration of mine! I didn't know a lot about her life, so this is so interesting thank you!

Expand full comment
Ken Barber's avatar

Beautiful. A woman, her art, and her cats.

Especially the cats. I, too love cats.

Expand full comment
Sabrina Y. Smith's avatar

This post was so moving 🥹 and knowing she’s a cat lady makes me love her even more ♥️

Expand full comment
Cindy Ojczyk's avatar

That was some in-depth researching and reporting. I hope it was as fun to write as it was to read!

Expand full comment
Bailey Richardson's avatar

It absolutely was. I love writing these :)

Expand full comment
Colleen's avatar

This is beautiful. Such a profound compilation of words, photos, and music. I deeply admire Joni and love her music so much.

Expand full comment
Bailey Richardson's avatar

This interview I didn't keep in the post, but it is totally worth watching! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUu1MvnAecc

Expand full comment
Colleen's avatar

Oh! Great! Thanks for sharing.

Expand full comment
Jolene Handy's avatar

Love this so much, Bailey, thank you. I get teary every time I see Joni’s Grammy performance, so, so poignant.

Expand full comment