James Taylor and Joni Mitchell

James Taylor and Joni Mitchell

Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images

News

Joni Mitchell Tribute 'Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration' Coming To Theaters

Facebook Twitter Email
The iconic folk singer celebrated her 75th birthday in style last year, and now, for one night only, you can watch how it all went down
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 9, 2019 - 4:06 pm

Joni Mitchell's 75th birthday celebration last year welcomed a number of GRAMMY-winning performers, including Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, Diana Krall, Kris Kristofferson, Los Lobos, Graham Nash, Seal, and James Taylor. (Not to mention the performing GRAMMY nominees: Glen Hansard, Rufus Wainwright and 61st GRAMMY Awards nominee Brandi Carlile.) Now, Trafalger Releasing is set to release a movie of the tribute concerts — The Music Center Presents Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration — to theaters on Feb. 7.

Variety’s coverage of the night’s performances said, “Carlile had the bravura vocal performance of the night, effortlessly hitting the high notes of 'Down to You' in a casually octave-spanning fashion few others on the bill would have been down with attempting.” She also joined Kristofferson for a duet of “A Case of You.”

Tickets are now on sale for the Feb. 7 showings. A soundtrack album will be released via Verve on Mar. 1. 

A Woman Of Influence: Joni Mitchell, Looking Back From 75

GRAMMYs

Joni Mitchell

Photo: Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

News

A Woman Of Influence: Joni Mitchell, Looking Back From 75

Facebook Twitter Email
Poet, artist and dreamer, the singer-songwriter has helped light the path of musical creativity across genres and generations
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Sep 7, 2018 - 3:43 pm

Winner of eight GRAMMY Awards and recipient of the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002, Joni Mitchell epitomizes the singer/songwriter's expressive path. Born on Nov. 7 in 1943, her upcoming 75th birthday will be marked as a special occasion to celebrate her influence and inspiration across the music world in many different genres. GRAMMY winners and nominees will be on hand at Los Angeles' The Music Center on Nov. 6–7 to perform works from all 19 albums in celebration of Mitchell's 75th.

GRAMMY winners performing on the two special nights are Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, Diana Krall, Kris Kristofferson, Los Lobos, Graham Nash, and Seal. "Joni is the reason I became a musician," said Seal, "so the opportunity to take part in this means everything to me." Seal sang as featured artist on Mitchell's track "How Do You Stop" from her Turbulent Indigo, winner of Best Pop Album at the 38th GRAMMY Awards.

GRAMMY nominees performing on the two nights at The Music Center include Glen Hansard and Rufus Wainwright. "When in her presence, the day dissolves and one glimpses something beyond, something very far away, yet oddly more concrete," said Wainwright. "Everything about her is oraculous." In addition to the performers, drummer Brian Blade and pianist Jon Cowherd are co-music directors for the nights and previously recorded with Mitchell as Brian Blade And The Fellowship Band.

So far the two Mitchell albums inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame are 1971's Blue and 1974's Court And Spark. While these albums stand tall as folk classics, Mitchell's creative reach has touched so much more than folk, as the lineup for her tribute suggests.

Skylar Grey is a GRAMMY nominated singer/songwriter who has written hits for Dr. Dre. and Eminem. Grey credits Joni Mitchell as a leading influence for her poetic lyrics, alongside Grey's other influence, Eminem. Although she tries to keep her commercial work away from niches some might find weird, Grey was reassured by Mitchell's freedom and accomplishment that she can go all out herself.

Skylar Grey Takes Ideas From Weird To Pop

In 1997 Janet Jackson released "Got 'Till It's Gone" combining Mitchell into the mix along with Q-Tip on Jackson's album The Velvet Rope, using an upbeat sample from "Big Yellow Taxi." At the 40th GRAMMY Awards, the song brought Jackson her fourth of five career GRAMMYs to date, in the category Best Short Form Music Video.

The Nov. 7 concert will be followed by a fundraising gala "The Music Center's Soirée: JONI 75," in partnership with Vanity Fair. Tickets for the concerts are now on sale.

Childish Gambino Assigns Ticket Buyers Two Unreleased Tracks As Homework

Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile

Photo: Travis P Ball/Getty Images

News

2019 ACM Awards Add Brandi Carlile, Dan + Shay, More To Lineup

Facebook Twitter Email
Other new performers added to the April 7 lineup include Eric Church, Kelly Clarkson, Ashley McBryde, and more
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Mar 19, 2019 - 1:59 pm

The ACM Awards announced a second batch of performers today, including 61st GRAMMY Awards winners Brandi Carlile and Dan + Shay.

Artists with nominations at the 61st include previous three-time GRAMMY winner Kelly Clarkson as well as Luke Combs, Florida Georgia Line and Ashley McBryde. They'll be joined by previous GRAMMY winners Brooks & Dunn and nominated artists Dierks Bentley and Eric Church.

The above batch will join these previously announced 2019 ACM performers: three-time GRAMMY winner Reba McEntire as well as Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, and George Strait. Also performing is Jason Aldean, who will be presented with the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award. Additional artist announcements are anticipated.

The 54th Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast from the MGM Grand at Las Vegas on April 7, 2019 on CBS. Tickets are still available at AXS.

In addition to the ACM Awards main event, many exciting Party For A Cause concerts are also planned for that weekend in Vegas, including the ACM Stories, Songs & Stars panel with its focus on country songwriters, the ACM Decades concert and the ACM Lifting Lives Topgolf Tee-Off, raising funds and awareness for ACM Lifting Lives' charitable activities.

Maren Morris & Brandi Carlile Talk Empowering Women In Music & Collaborating Together

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell

Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage

News

Joni Mitchell 1971 Art & Lyrics Book Coming This Fall

Facebook Twitter Email
'Morning Glory On The Vine' began as a holiday gift for 100 of the creative icon's closest friends
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Mar 11, 2019 - 1:14 pm

Singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell turned 75 last Nov., an opportune milestone to reflect on the eight-time GRAMMY winner's musical and artistic gifts. A lifelong visual artist as well as musician, Mitchell created 100 copies of her book Morning Glory On The Vine in 1971 as a holiday gift for friends. On Oct. 22, facsimile reproductions of the original work combining her lyrics and watercolors — created a few months after Mitchell released her album Blue — will be published in the U.S. by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and in the UK by Canongate.

"Joni Mitchell's influence on popular culture is peerless. There is simply no one like her," said Canongate Publishing Director Francis Bickmore. "Her fearless pursuit of honesty and art, her gift for storytelling and her incalculably beautiful melodies and voice — all of these have been inspirations and companions to me, and to so many others, for decades."

Morning Glory on the Vine: Early Songs and Drawings adds a new introduction by Mitchell as well as several of her paintings that did not make it into the original gift volume. Much of Mitchell's visual work is featured on her website below her quotation, "I have always thought of myself as a painter derailed by circumstance."

Mitchell's first nomination and GRAMMY win was Best Folk Performance at the 12th GRAMMY Awards, for her sophomore 1969 album Clouds. Fans appreciated the self portrait Mitchell painted for that album cover and many continued to enjoy her creative path as a mixture of Mitchell's musical and visual art. In Oct. for the first time, the general public will have access to new and intimate insights into her gifted imagination.

Joni Mitchell Tribute 'Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration' Coming To Theaters

Tash Sultana

Tash Sultana

Photo: FilmMagic/Getty Images

News

Eddie Vedder's Curated Ohana Fest Announces Lineup With Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tash Sultana & More

Facebook Twitter Email
Other headliners include Incubus, Jenny Lewis, LP, the Strokes, and more
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Mar 4, 2019 - 2:55 pm

The fourth annual Ohana Festival is set for Sept. 27–29 at Doheny State Beach at Calif.'s Dana Point. The ocean-side celebration is curated by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, who co-founded the fest and will be headlining. Additional headliners include Glen Hansard, Incubus, Jenny Lewis, LP, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Strokes, and Tash Sultana.

Former Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons is also on the bill, along with Laura Jane Grace And The Devouring Mothers,  Lukas Nelson & The Promise Of The Real and White Reaper.  

"It's been a true honor," said Vedder last year, "to work with the community and organizers to create a stimulating vibe and uplifting atmosphere for the great crowds and incredible musicians who come out to play in the park."

Tickets go on sale on March 8 at the festival's website. A portion of Ohana Fest's proceeds will be donated to the Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association, the San Onofre Parks Foundation and other charities.

Students Meet Their Hawaiian Ohana At The GRAMMY Museum