“Joni Mitchell” by rocor is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Canadian Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist, Pianist • Born November 7, 1943 • American Folk, Jazz, Pop, Rock
Fast Facts
- Roberta Joan Anderson, known as Joni Mitchell, was born in Alberta, Canada and moved to Saskatchewan with her family when she was 7.
- She started piano at age 7, but was discouraged by teacher to play her own songs.
- When she was 9, she got polio, which weakened her left hand.
- To make playing guitar easier, she experimented with several alternate tunings.
- Growing up, she wanted to be a visual artist and still refers to herself as “a painter who writes songs”.
- At first, her songs were recorded by other artists, such as Judy Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Crosby, Stills and Nash.
- Even though she did not attend the concert herself, her song “Woodstock” became the unofficial anthem for the event.
- “Big Yellow Taxi” was written after a trip to Hawaii and has been recorded by over 500 artists.
- Joni has collaborated with many jazz artists, including Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny, and Herbie Hancock.
Musician of the Month Project 