Sharing one’s art with the world inevitably opens the creator up to the soaring highs and devastating lows of public acclaim and criticism, some of which is easier to reconcile than others. Brandi Carlile is no stranger to this rule, having released nine studio albums since 2005 to varying degrees of success. To a certain extent, Carlile’s influence on and warm reception from the music industry are inarguable. Eleven Grammy Awards and two Emmy Awards offer convincing pieces of evidence of that fact.
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But even with these impressive accolades, Carlile isn’t immune to negative backlash. And as someone who admits to having thin skin, this criticism can (and has) significantly disaffected her mental and emotional well-being. During a 2025 appearance on the Howard Stern Show, Carlile revealed that some of the worst criticism she ever received in her career was over a collaboration that many people lauded as historical, beloved, and, for her collaborative artist, long overdue.
Carlile told Stern she found it most difficult to stomach the critiques of her bringing Joni Mitchell out of retirement at the Newport Folk Festival in July 2022. It was Mitchell’s first public performance since suffering a brain aneurysm seven years earlier, which made her surprise appearance all the more captivating. Carlile and Mitchell worked closely, both on and off stage, in an intimate, supportive setting. But not everyone saw it that way.
Brandi Carlile Said the Backlash for Her Joni Mitchell Collab Was Difficult
Anyone who has posted anything on the internet is likely well aware that it takes very little to elicit judgment and condemnation from the rest of the online community. But for Brandi Carlile, whose collaboration with Joni Mitchell meant so much to her, hearing negative responses to their performance was shattering. “I took a lot of s*** for my time with Joni in a way that just made me feel so beat down. And I, like, don’t know why because most people were beautiful about it, and in some ways, I got too much credit. But any criticism at all just felt so unjust because I knew people didn’t understand what was happening. I would just freak out.”
Carlile said most of the criticism centered on people feeling that she was putting herself in the spotlight too much in relation to Mitchell. But she added that those judging her “didn’t understand the dynamic that, you know, we had established.”
Although it was undoubtedly difficult for Carlile to remember while she was in the midst of an online hailstorm of judgment, Mitchell couldn’t have been a better mentor to have around when it comes to public scrutiny. Since she first burst onto the scene in the 1960s, Mitchell has staunchly pursued her own creative whims with little regard for what the public had to say about it. Carlile recalled Mitchell telling her, “Brandi, those people have always been there. They’ll always be there.” And she’d certainly know.
In moments of intense public backlash, one might recount Mitchell’s take on music critics recycling other critics’ harsher takes. This, she summated, was “people writing crap based on crap.” And with that in mind, who cares what the naysayers have to say?
Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
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