Question 1

True or false: Joni Mitchell survived a brain aneurysm in 2015 and later made a public return to music.

Accepted Answer

True. She suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015, but after years of recovery, she performed at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival.

Question 2

True or false: Joni Mitchell's real name is Roberta Joan Anderson and she was born in Canada in 1943.

Accepted Answer

True. She was born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, and later took her stepfather's surname Mitchell.

Question 3

True or false: Mitchell once won a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1970.

Accepted Answer

False. She never won Best New Artist; her first Grammy came later for Best Folk Performance for 'Clouds' in 1970.

Question 4

True or false: Joni Mitchell co-wrote the song 'Woodstock' but originally performed it herself before Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Accepted Answer

True. Mitchell wrote 'Woodstock' after being unable to attend the festival, and her version appears on her 1970 album 'Ladies of the Canyon.'

Question 5

True or false: Mitchell's song 'Big Yellow Taxi' was inspired by a view of a parking lot from a hotel in Hawaii.

Accepted Answer

True. While in Hawaii, she saw a parking lot where lush greenery once was, sparking the line 'They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.'

Question 6

True or false: Mitchell's album 'Court and Spark' was her only album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

Accepted Answer

False. Actually, 'Court and Spark' peaked at number two; her only number one album was 'Miles of Aisles,' a live set.

Question 7

True or false: Joni Mitchell taught herself to play guitar using a unique open tuning after contracting polio as a child.

Accepted Answer

False. She contracted polio at age 9, but the open tunings came from her desire to play folk songs differently, not from polio.

Question 8

True or false: Mitchell's painting 'Hejira' was used as the cover art for her 1976 album of the same name.

Accepted Answer

False. 'Hejira' the album features a cover painting by Mitchell, but it's titled 'Joni's Room,' not 'Hejira.'

Joni Mitchell Trivia Questions