Joni Mitchell hospitalized: Singer ‘in good spirits’ – Los Angeles Times

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell was hospitalized Tuesday, her official website confirmed.

When asked for information regarding Mitchell, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said that about 2:30 p.m., a person in the 600 block of Funchal Road was taken to an area hospital in fair condition. He would not identify the person or provide further information. Mitchell has long lived in the Bel-Air neighborhood.

Around 10 p.m., the verified Twitter account for Mitchell’s website said she was in intensive care, “but is awake and in good spirits.”

Mitchell, 71, was one of the most prominent musicians to come out of the legendary 1960s Laurel Canyon music scene, which included the Doors; Neil Young; Crosby, Stills & Nash; Carole King; the Eagles; and the Mamas and the Papas. Since then her music has inspired and been covered by artists including Prince, Bjork, Janet Jackson, Steely Dan and Chaka Khan.

“I have a tremendous will to live,” Mitchell told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. She self-identifies as having Morgellons disease and has been a vocal advocate for the controversial disorder in recent years.

“I’m a polio survivor, so I know how conservative the medical body can be,” she said. “In America, the Morgellons is always diagnosed as ‘delusion of parasites,’ and they send you to a psychiatrist. I’m actually trying to get out of the music business to battle for Morgellons sufferers to receive the credibility that’s owed to them.”

Last year, the box set “Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced” was released. The four-CD set includes Mitchell’s liner notes, which offer blow-by-blow memories of the sessions and interactions. She gets grumpy about Bob Dylan and David Geffen and calls out her own songs for new criticism. “Some of my songs bug people. They hate them,” she writes.

In 1995, Mitchell was bestowed the Century Award by Billboard magazine, the publication’s highest honor for creative achievement, according to her website. Other winners include George Harrison, Buddy Guy and Billy Joel. She was presented the award “to acknowledge the uncommon excellence of a still-unfolding body of work.” 

Mitchell has won eight Grammy awards during her career and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Times staff writer Ryan Parker contributed to this report.

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