Joni Mitchell is officially a US citizen. The 82-year-old music legend announced the news Tuesday on Instagram, sharing photos and video from her naturalization ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security. In one image, she holds an American flag, and her caption says it all:“A journey that began 62 years ago.”Mitchell moved to the United States from Canada in 1965 with her first husband, folk singer Chuck Mitchell, when she was just 21 years old.
Despite spending most of her adult life in California, Mitchell has never hidden her Canadian roots. She’s famously said,“LA is my workplace, BC is my heartbeat,”and as recently as March, she returned to Canada to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Juno Awards. Her friend and ex-boyfriend Graham Nash celebrated the citizenship news in the comments, writing,“Congrats, Joan! Just in time to vote!”
The milestone caps an incredible late-career resurgence for Mitchell, who has described her 2015 brain aneurysm as a life-changing experience that ultimately changed her life for the better. There’s also a Cameron Crowe biopic in development about her life, with Meryl Streep set to portray an older version of the icon.
So what do you think: does Joni Mitchell’s citizenship story make you want to revisit her catalog this week?
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Local Lawton
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