Annie Lennox says discovering Joni Mitchell was “life-changing”
Scottish singer Annie Lennox has opened up about her love of Joni Mitchell and said discovering the musician was a “life-changing” experience.
Lennox was speaking to PBS for their culture series, Canvas, and in the discussion, she looked back at pivotal moments in her career, such as listening to Mitchell for the first time. She explained: “Joni had a huge impact on me. There was a point in my life when I was very young, I came down to London to study classical music. I was a flute player, and I played piano. And it didn’t work out.”
The artist continued: “I went to the Royal Academy of Music. And I knew from the very first day that I stepped in the building that it wasn’t right for me. I shared this basement flat apartment, and I didn’t have any money, but they — with their money, they bought albums and were very proud of the LPs that they bought”.
“So he came in with a Joni Mitchell album, which I think was probably Court and Spark. It was something else. And what I identified with was this extraordinary lyrical aspect, this poetic aspect of visual painting, but in sound and in word. It sort of made everything come together,” Lennox said. “That was life-changing. That encounter with her music changed my life.”
Mitchell was recently honoured with the Gershwin Prize in Washington, D.C, and celebrated by peers including Cyndi Lauper, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Mumford, Brandi Carlile, James Taylor, and Graham Nash. During the presentation, Mitchell also took to the stage to perform ‘Summertime’.
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