Watch: Pete Townshend Joins Martha Wainwright on Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”

Last week, Martha Wainwright kicked off a UK tour at Cadogan Hall in London. For the performance, she tapped The Who’s Pete Townshend to perform the last two songs of the night.

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Along with a duet of Wainwright’s own “Factory,” off her 2005 self-titled debut album, the duo also performed a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” Wainwright and Townshend have performed the latter track a couple of times before —once in 2006 and again in 2007.

For the latest rendition, Townshend took up guitar duties while Wainwright passionately sang through the verses. As they finished up the cover, Wainwright turned to the ex-Who guitarist to offer a round of applause alongside the crowd. Check out the performance below.

Mitchell’s 1969 ballad has been making its way back to the live circuit in the last few weeks, with the Canadian songstress herself performing the song at the Newport Folk Festival. It was a rare performance for Mitchell, given that she has been mostly retired from music since she suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015.

Townshend was last heard on a new single “Lay on, Take Off” as well as an Audible Original project, Somebody Saved Me. The project was the 29th in the platform’s “Words + Music” series that has previously featured the likes of Eddie Vedder, Billie Joe Armstrong, Tom Morello, James Taylor, and more.

For Townshend’s go, he discusses the period between the 1978 death of The Who’s drummer Keith Moon and the 2022 loss of bassist John Entwistle.

Wainwright’s latest release was an album titled Love Will Be Reborn. Her current tour will trek on well into the fall, before wrapping up in Quebec on November 26.

(Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns)

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