Joni Mitchell didn’t leave a dry eye in the Crypto.com Arena after she made her GRAMMYs debut with her 1966 signature hit “Both Sides Now.” That included Taylor Swift, who was spotted in a since-deleted tweet fervently clapping during Mitchell’s performance.
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“Queen is supporting all,” one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Many fans agree there would be no Swift without Mitchell, whom Americana star Brandi Carlile described as “the matriarch of imagination.” In fact, Swift’s 2012 hit album Red is is thought to be partly inspired by Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue.
Swift has said Blue is her favorite Mitchell album because “it explores somebody’s soul so deeply,” including “her deepest pains and most haunting demons.”
Mitchell Wows With First-Ever Grammy Performance
Mitchell’s Grammy debut came nearly half a century after she released her first album, 1968’s Song to Seagull.
The performance was made all the more poignant by the fact that Mitchell had to relearn how to play the guitar following a 2015 aneurysm.
“I’m looking at videos on the net to see where to put my fingers,” Mitchell told CBS Mornings in 2022. “It’s amazing what an aneurysm knocks out — how to get out of a chair. You don’t know how to get out of bed. You have to learn all these things by rote again.”
Don’t Call It a Comeback
In addition to her performance, Mitchell took home her 10th Grammy award Sunday night. The 80-year-old folk icon won Best Folk Album for Joni Mitchell Live at Newport.
Mitchell recently announced a new concert set for October 2024. The concert, which is being billed as “Joni Mitchell & the Joni Jam,” will take place at the famed Hollywood Bowl.
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
