On Sunday, 78-year-old, iconic singer Joni Mitchell stepped onto the stage of the Newport Folk Festival and completed her first performance since enduring a brain aneurysm in 2015.
“The last time Joni performed with guitar in hand in front of a paying audience was 8,660 days ago, on her 55th birthday,” her website stated.
During her performance, she sang many of her most adored songs such as “Big Yellow Taxi”, “Both Sides Now” and a cover of “Summertime”. Many fans thought that she would never play live again because her brain aneurysm had rendered her to be incapable of speaking, walking, and playing the guitar.
Joni has described the last few years as a “return to infancy”. She spent time relearning the guitar by watching videos of herself to “see where I put my fingers”. During the festival, fans were thrilled to see Joni get out of her wheelchair and play a guitar solo.
When Joni was young, she had polio and she was unable to walk. The singer described her brain aneurysm as more destructive than polio.
“Polio didn’t grab me like that, but the aneurysm took away a lot more, really. Took away my speech and my ability to walk. And, you know, I got my speech back quickly, but the walking I’m still struggling with,” she told NPR.
Many doctors are astonished by Joni’s recovery, as brain aneurysms like hers are life-threatening and can induce comas and seizures. Anthony Wang, a neurosurgeon, stated that it must have taken immense commitment for her recovery.
“To be able to recover to the point of being able to perform as a musician is really incredible,” Wang said “Brain surgeons often use “return-to-work” as a marker of a successful functional recovery, he explained. “But very rarely is that work quite so nuanced.”
Source:
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/26/1113608539/joni-mitchell-newport-folk-festival-aneurysm#:~:text=Joni%20Mitchell’s%20surprise%20performance%20at,debilitating%20brain%20aneurysm%20in%202015.
“The last time Joni performed with guitar in hand in front of a paying audience was 8,660 days ago, on her 55th birthday,” her website stated.
During her performance, she sang many of her most adored songs such as “Big Yellow Taxi”, “Both Sides Now” and a cover of “Summertime”. Many fans thought that she would never play live again because her brain aneurysm had rendered her to be incapable of speaking, walking, and playing the guitar.
Joni has described the last few years as a “return to infancy”. She spent time relearning the guitar by watching videos of herself to “see where I put my fingers”. During the festival, fans were thrilled to see Joni get out of her wheelchair and play a guitar solo.
When Joni was young, she had polio and she was unable to walk. The singer described her brain aneurysm as more destructive than polio.
“Polio didn’t grab me like that, but the aneurysm took away a lot more, really. Took away my speech and my ability to walk. And, you know, I got my speech back quickly, but the walking I’m still struggling with,” she told NPR.
Many doctors are astonished by Joni’s recovery, as brain aneurysms like hers are life-threatening and can induce comas and seizures. Anthony Wang, a neurosurgeon, stated that it must have taken immense commitment for her recovery.
“To be able to recover to the point of being able to perform as a musician is really incredible,” Wang said “Brain surgeons often use “return-to-work” as a marker of a successful functional recovery, he explained. “But very rarely is that work quite so nuanced.”
Source:
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/26/1113608539/joni-mitchell-newport-folk-festival-aneurysm#:~:text=Joni%20Mitchell’s%20surprise%20performance%20at,debilitating%20brain%20aneurysm%20in%202015.