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Awards

Joni Mitchell Delivers an All-Time Performance of ‘Both Sides Now’ in Her Grammy Debut

The legendary 80-year-old singer-songwriter elevated the Grammy stage on Sunday.

Joni Mitchell (C) and US singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile (R) perform on stage during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 4, 2024.

Joni Mitchell (C) and US singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile (R) perform on stage during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 4, 2024.

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

Joni Mitchell gave the crowd at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena a performance for the ages on Sunday night (Feb. 4), in what was technically the legendary singer-songwriter’s Grammys debut.

Mitchell was introduced by Brandi Carlile, who saluted her importance and influence as “the matriarch of imagination” and her own personal hero — as well as for the struggles she had to go through after suffering a brain aneurysm (including having to learn how to walk again three separate times), among other issues. “Joni just turned 80, my friends,” Carlile raved, “but we all know she’s timeless.”


Mitchell then performed her signature ballad “Both Sides Now” seated from a large cushioned throne. Despite her voice of course being huskier and octaves lower than it was on the original 1969 recording, and the arrangement significantly slower, her performance of the classic song was absolutely stunning and thoroughly indelible. Attendees from Beyoncé to Meryl Streep to Dua Lipa were caught rapt in attention, visibly overpowered by the moment. Carlile assisted on the performance on the guitar, with further backing from Alison Russell, Lucius and Jacob Collier.

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Mitchell has won 11 Grammys in her career, including one at this year’s ceremonies — dating all the way back to 1969, when her “Both Sides” parent album Clouds won best folk performance. She also took home best folk album earlier in this year’s ceremonies for her Joni Mitchell at Newport live set. Her own version of “Both Sides Now” never charted on the Billboard Hot 100, but Judy Collins’ contemporaneous version of the song reached No. 8 in late 1968.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.

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H.E.R.
Steven Moran
H.E.R.
Awards

See Who Was Nominated — and Who Was Passed Over — in Oscars’ 2025 Music Categories

This is the fifth year in a row that one or more non-English language songs has been nominated for best original song.

Diane Warren received her 16th Oscar nomination for best original song on Thursday (Jan. 23) — a tally equaled by only three other songwriters in the 91-year history of the category. Sammy Cahn leads with 26 nods, followed by Johnny Mercer with 18 and Paul Francis Webster, also with 16. Warren was nominated this year this year for “The Journey,” sung by H.E.R. in The Six Triple Eight.

Moreover, this is the eighth year in a row Warren has been nominated, which enables her to tie Cahn for the longest continuous streak of nominations in this category. Cahn was nominated eight years running from 1954 to 1961.

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