Joni Mitchell delighted the crowd at the Newport Folk Festival when she performed a surprise set on Sunday.
Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile closed the Rhode Island festival on Sunday with a track billed as Brandi Carlile and Friends. At the start, she was joined by other musicians, including Taylor Goldsmith, Marcus Mumford, Wynonna Judd and Allison Russell, who sat in a semicircle of seats facing two throne-style armchairs in the center.
According to NPR, Carlile said, “This scene will forever be known as Joni Jam from now on!” and featured the 78-year-old star on stage.
Video footage shows Mitchell and Carlile singing Mitchell classics Both Sides Now and A Case of You, and the iconic singer playing an electric guitar solo from her 1974 song Just Like This Train.
The set, which was mostly performed as a solo band, also included renditions of his songs, including Carey, Come in From the Cold, Help Me, Big Yellow Taxi, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Amelia and The Circle Game.
The music legend last performed at the festival in 1969 and the ensemble marked its first full public performance since 2000.
Mitchell, who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015, performed live for the first time since 2013 earlier this year. She received the titular honor at the MusiCares 2022 Person of the Year gala in April and appeared on stage with longtime fan and supporter Carlile and Jon Batiste.