Joni Mitchell reduced viewers and audience members to tears after making her debut at the 2024 Grammys Awards.
The 80-year-old legendary musician made an appearance at the 66th award ceremony on Sunday (February 4), which was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
Mitchell was seated in an elaborate, gilded armchair as she sang an incredibly poignant version of her 1966 hit 'Both Sides Now,' marking her first-ever performance at the prestigious event.
With her long white-blonde hair styled in two long braids, the icon held a cane in one hand as her throne slowly rotated to reveal her to the emotional crowd.
Watch Mitchell's performance below:During Mitchell's performance alongside collaborators Brandi Carlile, Lucius, Blake Mills, SistaStrings, and Jacob Collier, Meryl Streep and her daughter Mamie Gummer looked bleary-eyed as the camera panned to the audience. Additional artists like Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Jay-Z were also caught tearing up.
In the end, the 'Case Of You' artist received a standing ovation from the star-studded crowd as well as viewers at home who took to social media to share their reactions.
One emotional user penned: "Cried last night and again this morning. A triumph of art and the human spirit," while another wrote: "May have had something in my eye while watching the full version of this on the train to work."
A third user beautifully shared: "What an epic performance by the legendary @jonimitchell tonight. I honestly felt she had everyone not only in the audience, but everyone watching at home worldwide completely mesmerized and hanging on her every word. She had everyone’s heart in her hands. Simply Beautiful."
A fourth added: "Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile. What she has overcome to sing this poetry once again with such wisdom and lightness. I sobbed through this performance."
Earlier in the night, The 'Big Yellow Taxi' songstress, who has had a career spanning almost six decades, won her 10th Grammy for Best Folk Album for her live record, Joni Mitchell at Newport.
Her Grammy performance was particularly significant as many fans feared that Mitchell would never perform live again after she suffered a brain aneurysm in March 2015, which meant she had to re-learn how to walk, talk, and sing.
However, the icon made her surprise return to the stage in 2022 at the Newport Folk Festival alongside Carlile. She also played her first headline concert in over 20 years at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington in June 2023.
The Canadian artist's rendition of her 57-year-old song followed an incredible introduction by Carlile, who spoke about all the challenges Mitchell overcame throughout her life.
"Joni is one of the most influential and emotionally generous creators in human history. She redefined the very purpose of a song to reflect the contents of a person's soul," she said, as cited by Daily Mail. "In some ways, she didn't have a choice but to take these leaps. She was too preoccupied with basic survival.
"Surviving poverty, polio, and as of 10 years ago, a near-fatal brain aneurysm. She didn't dwell too much on how her art was received because she was too busy re-learning to speak, let alone sing," she added.
The country and folk-rock star said that Mitchell "learned to walk three times," before cheerfully adding: "Joni just turned 80, my friends! But we all know she's timeless.
"If we are so lucky that history remembers any of us, one thing I know for sure is that it will remember that we lived in the time of Joni Mitchell," she concluded. "Today she just won the Grammy for Best Folk Album, 56 years into her singular career."
We are so happy to see Mitchell back on stage!
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