Joni Mitchell’s website says contrary to reports, she’s not in a coma
Posted April 28, 2015 6:51 pm.
Last Updated April 28, 2015 8:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Joni Mitchell’s website says that despite earlier reports, the Canadian songwriting legend is not in a coma.
“Joni is still in the hospital – but she comprehends, she’s alert, and she has her full senses. A full recovery is expected,” a note on her official site said.
Earlier Tuesday, as reported by TMZ and The Associated Press, a longtime friend stated in a court filing that Mitchell is unconscious and unable to make medical decisions for herself.
Her website addressed the report, saying: “The document obtained by a certain media outlet simply gives her longtime friend Leslie Morris the authority – in the absence of 24-hour doctor care – to make care decisions for Joni once she leaves the hospital. As we all know, Joni is a strong-willed woman and is nowhere near giving up the fight.”
Morris is identified as a friend of Mitchell’s for more than 44 years.
Morris is not seeking control of Mitchell’s estate. She is seeking the appointment because Mitchell does not have any family who can serve as her conservator.
Mitchell was hospitalized March 31 after being found unconscious in her Los Angeles home. No updates about her health have been posted to her website or Twitter account since early April, when a message stated she was resting comfortably and improving.
Phone messages for Morris and her attorney, Alan Watenmaker, were not immediately returned.
The filing was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.
The Saskatchewan-raised Mitchell has received eight Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 2002. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
She started her career as a street musician in Canada before moving to Southern California, where she became part of the flourishing folk scene in the late 1960s. Her second album, “Clouds,” was a breakthrough with such songs as “Both Sides Now” and “Chelsea Morning,” winning Mitchell the Grammy for best folk performance.
Her 1970 album, “Ladies of the Canyon,” featured the hit single “Big Yellow Taxi” and the era-defining “Woodstock.” The following year, she released “Blue,” which ranks 30th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”
Her musical style integrates folk and jazz elements, and she counts jazz giants Charles Mingus and Pat Metheny among her past collaborators.
