For the first time ever, Joni Mitchell performed live at the Grammys.
The 80-year-old “Big Yellow Taxi” singer lit up the stage during Sunday night’s 2024 ceremony, held at Los Angeles’ Crypto Arena, with an array of equally gifted musicians.
Friend and collaborator Brandi Carlile introduced Mitchell before they sang “Both Sides Now” together, accompanied by Jacob Collier, Allison Russell, Sista Strings, Lucius and Blake Mills.
Mitchell remained seated throughout the moving number while rocking her signature braids and an all-black outfit and cap.
Grammys executive producer Raj Kapoor previously teased the powerful number during a Feb. 1 appearance on Rolling Stone’s “Music Now” podcast.
“It will be a song that I think everybody knows,” Kapoor said, “and if you are a Joni Mitchell fan, it’s the song that you want to hear.”
Mitchell’s performance debut comes hours after her win in the best folk album category for 2023’s “Joni Mitchell at Newport.” She now has 10 Grammys in total — including her first-ever Gramophone, given to her at 1970’s 12th annual for Best Folk Performance for “Clouds.”
In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, Mitchell explained that several health setbacks — including a debilitating battle with polio, plus a 2015 aneurysm — impacted her stamina, but she continued on in her career nonetheless.
“once again I couldn’t walk. I had to learn how again. I couldn’t talk. Polio didn’t grab me like that, but the aneurysm took away a lot more, really. Took away my speech and my ability to walk,” she said at the time.
“And, you know, I got my speech back quickly, but the walking I’m still struggling with. But I mean, I’m a fighter. I’ve got Irish blood! [long laugh] So you know, I knew, ‘Here I go again, another battle.’”
Mitchell was one of many superstars who performed during Sunday’s spectacle.
Other acts included Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Travis Scott, Dua Lipa, SZA and U2, the latter of whom made history as the first broadcasted Grammy performance, delivering their set from the Sphere in Las Vegas.
