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Joni Mitchell performs first show in 10 years

Joni Mitchell joined Brandi Carlile and friends at Newport Folk Festival for her first full performance in 20 years


Joni Mitchell surprised audiences this weekend when she joined Brandi Carlile for a special performance at Newport Folk Festival.

It had been nearly 10 years since Mitchell last performed on stage, 20 since her last full-length performance and over 50 years since her last appearance at Newport. The revered singer-songwriter joined Carlile on stage to perform a career-spanning set of classis including ‘A Case of You’, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, and ‘Both Sides Now’, even throwing in a guitar solo for good measure.

Mitchell hasn’t toured since 2000 and public appearances have been rare since she suffered a brain aneurism in 2015. Her appearance with Carlile spread rapidly across social media, as fans around the world caught wind of her special performance, dubbed the ‘Joni Jam’ by Carlile.

Joni Mitchell – Both Sides Now (Live at the Newport Folk Festival 2022) [Official Video]

Mitchell wasn’t the only one who joined Brandi Carlile at the festival. Billed as “Brandi Carlile and friends”, the Grammy-winner’s star-studded set also included performances from Lucius, Blake Mills, Taylor Goldsmith, Marcus Mumford, Wynonna Judd and more.

Big Yellow Taxi from Joni Jam at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival

Elsewhere at the festival, another folk luminary made a surprise appearance as Paul Simon joined Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats during a set of covers of his songs. Simon performed ‘The Boxer’, ‘The Sound Of Silence’, ‘Graceland’ and ‘American Tune’, the latter with guest vocals from Rhiannon Giddens.