(Washington) Canadian singer Joni Mitchell received new recognition Wednesday night: the Library of Congress’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Updated yesterday at 21:55.
The 79-year-old Alberta artist is the first Canadian and only the third woman to receive this prestigious award since its inception in 2007.
To mark the occasion, a concert was organized with performances by, among others, Annie Lennox, James Taylor, Brandi Carlile and Cyndi Lauper in the DAR Constitution Hall, a historic room not far from the White House in Washington.
The stage was adorned with 12 huge paintings framed by spotlights, including some of the singer’s self-portraits.
Joni Mitchell sat in the front row in her gold beret and sunglasses, with her hair in a braid.
Singer Marcus Mumford kicked off the performance ball with Carey, a work from the seminal 1971 album Blue, long considered one of the greatest albums of all time.
The tribute marks another step in Mitchell’s return to the limelight, who performed a surprise concert with Carlile at the Newport Folk Festival last summer, his first live performance in more than 20 years.
Mitchell, who now lives in Los Angeles, is recovering from a ruptured brain aneurysm she sustained in 2015.
As a Gershwin Award winner, she joins a select group of legendary singer-songwriters including Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Carole King.
Recipients are selected by the Library of Congress in conjunction with previous recipients as well as outside experts. Artistic value, achievements, musical influence and impact on the audience are among the most important evaluation criteria.
In keeping with a longstanding tradition, Mitchell will participate in an hour-long conversation with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden Thursday in the library’s Great Hall in the Thomas Jefferson Building.