Will Joni Mitchell perform at the Juno Awards next month?
The beloved folk music icon hasn’t performed in Canada since 2013
The inimitable Joni Mitchell is set to make a trip home to Canada next month, where she’ll accept the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Juno Award at Hamilton’s TD Coliseum.
Last week, a press release announced that Sarah McLachlan and Allison Russell would honour the Alberta-born folk icon with a performance at the Junos.
Related: A film legend will star as Canadian folk icon Joni Mitchell in a new biopic
Sources told the Toronto Star that Junos organizers are hoping for Mitchell herself to perform at the March 29 awards ceremony, too, but that it depends on her health. Mitchell, who is 82, suffered a brain aneurysm 11 years ago, and has made few public appearances since, though she did perform at the Newport Folk Festival in 2022, and at the 2024 Grammy Awards. As the Star notes, Mitchell hasn’t played in Canada since 2013.
“The beloved Canadian singer-songwriter has profoundly impacted folk, rock, pop and jazz music through her distinctive voice, innovative guitar playing and a unique ability to craft poetic and thought-provoking lyrics,” says the Junos’ website. “Her classic songs like ‘Big Yellow Taxi,’ ‘A Case of You,’ ‘Help Me,’ and ‘Both Sides Now,’ continue to strike a chord with listeners.”
Whether or not she’s able to perform, we’re happy to see her being celebrated.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
