Joni Mitchell: I’m ‘inching along’ five years after aneurysm
JONI Mitchell says she is still struggling to walk five years after suffering a brain aneurysm.
The acclaimed singersongwriter, 76, was taken to hospital in March 2015 after being found unconscious at her Los Angeles home.
A statement released via Mitchell’s website at the time said she was “getting better each day” and “a full recovery is expected”.
However, in a rare interview with TheGuardian, Mitchell said she is “inching along”.
Speaking to director Cameron Crowe, the BigYellowTaxi singer spoke about whether she had been struck with musical inspiration recently.
She said: “It hasn’t for a while. I haven’t been writing recently. I haven’t been playing my guitar or the piano or anything.
“No, I’m just concentrating on getting my health back. You know what? I came back from polio, so here I am again, and struggling back.”
Asked how she would characterise the past five years, she said: “Just inching my way along. I’m showing slow improvement but moving forward.”
Referring to a bout of polio she experienced as a child, she added: “Yeah, because once again I couldn’t walk. I had to learn how again. I couldn’t talk.
“Polio didn’t grab me like that, but the aneurysm took away a lot more, really. Took away my speech and my ability to walk.
“And, you know, I got my speech back quickly, but the walking I’m still struggling with.
“But I mean, I’m a fighter. I’ve got Irish blood. So you know, I knew, ‘Here I go again, another battle.’”
Mitchell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.