Beloved singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell is seen here arriving at Elton John‘s 70th Birthday and 50-Year Songwriting Partnership with Bernie Taupin benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the UCLA Hammer Museum at RED Studios Hollywood.
Joni’s health has been in serious decline over the last few years.
According to Wikipedia:
She spoke to the Los Angeles Times in 2010 about battling the self-diagnosed skin condition Morgellons, saying, “I have this weird, incurable disease that seems like it’s from outer space.” She said at that time that she planned to leave the music industry to work toward giving more credibility to people diagnosed with Morgellons.
On March 31, 2015, Mitchell was found unconscious in her Los Angeles home. She regained consciousness in an ambulance on her way to hospital, but was taken to intensive care for tests.[65] Since then, there have been conflicting reports about her condition. On April 28, 2015, an official statement was made through JoniMitchell.com:
Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet today, Joni is not in a coma. Joni is still in the hospital – but she comprehends, she’s alert, and she has her full senses. A full recovery is expected. The document obtained by a certain media outlet simply gives her longtime friend Leslie Morris the authority – in the absence of 24-hour doctor care – to make care decisions for Joni once she leaves the hospital. As we all know, Joni is a strong-willed woman and is nowhere near giving up the fight. Please continue to keep Joni in your thoughts.
On May 29, 2015, it was confirmed that Mitchell had suffered a brain aneurysm and that while speech was difficult, she had been communicating with others. As of May 2015 Mitchell was expected to be moved to a rehabilitation facility, as her condition was still considered to be “very serious” About a month later close friend David Crosby said “nobody found her for a while” and “to my knowledge, she is not speaking yet.”However, Mitchell’s conservator, Leslie Morris, later released a statement saying that “details that have emerged in the past few days are mostly speculative. The truth is that Joni is speaking, and she’s speaking well. She is not walking yet…”
In July 2015, Mitchell was back at home, undergoing physical therapy and “making progress”, according to her lawyer Rebecca J. Thyne. In October 2015, Mitchell’s friend, singer Judy Collins, reported that she was taking part in rehabilitation every day and was walking, talking and painting.
Mitchell made her first public appearance following the aneurysm when she attended a Chick Corea concert in Los Angeles in August 2016.
Good to see her out and about!
(Photos: Pacific Coast News)
