Legendary folk singer Joni Mitchell is not dead. She is very much alive, and reports that she has died are false.
Her representative confirmed to Daily Variety that Mitchell was still alive after a death hoax circulated online on October 7, 2022. How old is Joni Mitchell today? She is 78-years-old.
How did the death hoax even happen? It turns out a major magazine accidentally published an obituary for Mitchell that they were working on advance in case she dies. However, there is no indication that she is near death, although she has had serious health problems throughout the years.
Here’s what you need to know
‘All Is Well,’ a Representative Said of Mitchell
According to Daily Variety, a representative for Rhino, which is involved with Michell professionally, said, “I can confirm all is well so this was done in error.”
In other words, Mitchell is very much alive.
According to Variety, the confusion stemmed from the publication of an article on People Magazine’s website. The headline read, “Joni Mitchell Dies at TK AGE.”
But according to Variety, TK is media parlance for “to come.” What that means is it was a prestaged obituary written in case Mitchell dies at some point down the road because People wants to be able to get a story live when she does.
It was accidentally published now, Variety reported. Further confirming this fact, noted Variety, “The story itself also included editorial notes indicating details that needed to be filled in.”
Mitchell Has Suffered Serious Health Problems Over the Years
Mitchell’s health has been precarious in recent years. She suffered a “debilitating brain aneurysm in 2015,” according to NPR.
However, in July 2022, she was back performing on stage at Newport Folk Festival, NPR reported. Mitchell described her recovery as a “return to infancy,” according to NPR, which explained that the iconic singer had to teach herself to play guitar again by watching old videos of herself.
You can see a full biography of Mitchell on her website. It starts,
Roberta Joan Anderson was born on November 7, 1943, in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada. Her parents, Bill and Myrtle (Her father was a grocer, and her mother a schoolteacher), moved with their young daughter to North Battleford, Saskatchewan after the end of World War II. When she was 9 years old, Joni and her family moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the “city of bridges,” which Joni has since referred to as her hometown.
Inspired when her slightly older friend Frankie McKitrick, a piano prodigy, introduced her to classical composers like Schubert and Mozart, Joni begged her parents to let her study the piano. Her piano lessons started at age seven, but lasted all of a year and a half; It was a time when the “knuckle-rapping school” was in effect. Although Joni heard melodies in her head that she wanted to get out, she felt stifled when her teacher asked her ‘why would you want to make up your own songs when you can have the masters under your fingers?’
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