Oldies music fans got an unexpected treat at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival on Sunday.
The legendary singer-songwriter, Joni Mitchell, made a surprise appearance.
It was her first public concert in almost 20 years.
She and Brandi Carlile delighted the audience with Joni’s famous songs, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Both Sides Now, ” among others.
Wynonna Judd, who was also on stage, cried as she listened to Mitchell perform her classic, “Both Sides Now,” which was famously recorded by Judy Collins.
The nine-time Grammy winner, now 78-years-old, made her first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1967. She is famous for other songs, which she performed Monday, including the classics, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “A Case of You.”
Mitchell has made rare appearances since 2015, due to health issues. She had a serious brain aneurysm in 2015 that almost killed her.
After her recovery, she appeared in public at the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors in December and at the 2022 Grammy Awards in April.
She has been known to give private concerts in her California home for friends – notably Elton John and Bonnie Raitt. Her last public concert was in November 2002.
Mitchell appeared on “CBS Mornings” on Monday. She said, “I’ve never been nervous about being in front of an audience,” she said. “But I wanted to be good, you know, and I wasn’t sure that I could be. But I didn’t sound too bad tonight.”
She continued, “The surgeon that did the brain surgery on me, he said I have will and grit. … I think having a brush with death like that kind of softens people towards me.”
The singer told CBS News that after her aneurysm, she had to teach herself to play the guitar again, among other skills.
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
Joni Mitchell – Both Sides Now – 1966
