Joni Mitchell returns onstage with lesbian artist Brandi Carlile

Music legend Joni Mitchell returned to the stage at this year’s Newport Folk Festival with her first full concert after more than 20 years.

This was also the 78-year old singer’s first first public performance since suffering a nearly fatal brain aneurysm in 2015.

Joni Mitchell returns to sing again

“The last time Joni performed with guitar in hand in front of a paying audience was 8,660 days ago, on her 55th birthday,” stated Mitchell’s website.

Mitchell performed the 13-song set alongside lesbian singer-songwriter and producer Brandi Carlile, 41, who has been both long time fan and collaborator to the iconic singer.

The set included classics such as “A Case of You,” “Both Sides, Now,” “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Circle Game,” and “Summertime.”

Mitchell shared post-concert that although she has never felt nervous about performing, she had worried that she would not sound good for the event

However, she said was satisfied with the outcome.

How they got a legend back onstage

Carlile shared that she and Mitchell agreed to perform at the festival after attending the 2022 Grammys as well as the MusiCares’ charity concert thrown in Mitchell’s honour.

She said, “But the agreement was very much that we’ll just sit around in a circle and play the songs, like we always do at the Joni Jams.”

“Sometimes Joni sings, and sometimes she doesn’t want to,” she added.

She recounted a conversation she had with Mitchell prior to the event: “All we want to do is just sit there in a circle and sing to show you what you’ve done for us.”

“And if you sing along, f—ing awesome; if you don’t, we’re just so happy to be with you,” she said.

She declared, “This is our way of thanking you. We don’t want you to feel like there’s something that you have to do.”

Brandi Carlile’s activism and Joni Mitchell

Being an out lesbian for most of her career and married to her wife Catherine Shepherd since 2012, Carlile and her music have a close tie to socio-politcal activism.

Carlile has expressed that she feels it her responsibility to use her platform to spread a more meaningful message.

Earlier this year, she released an outspoken statement against the wave of anti-LGBT+ legislation and rhetoric that arose in the US.

Joni Mitchell has also been known to use her sound to amplify her political stands and beliefs.

This has extended even to issues relating to the LGBT+ community, such as her song “Sex Kills” from the 1994 album, “Turbulent Indigo,” which discussed the impact of the AIDS epidemic.

When asked about the performance, Carlile noted the deep influence Mitchell has had on her.

“It’s one of those reckonings where I’ve been so moved and so taught by Joni Mitchell over the course of my adult life that it’s going to be a real honour to sing her songs and perhaps even have her witness that,” Carlile said.

Listen to her sing her classic tune, “Both Sides Now,” at the Newport Folk Festival in the video below: