The folk goddess, the cheekbone icon, the Joni Mitchell has eschewed public life ever since suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015, minus showing up to a select few events that celebrate her greatness. And while Mitchell’s health continues to be a major source of speculation for fans (she was rumored to have lost her speech and mobility for a brief period of time), an old pal of hers, James Taylor, has given us one hell of an update: She’s planning a return to music, so we better be ready when she drops a sonic bomb on us. “Yes, I think she’s coming back musically,” he told the Guardian in a new profile. “It’s amazing to see her come back to the surface.”
Additionally, Taylor said Mitchell’s health is steadily improving, so much so that she’s gone incognito to attend his concerts in Los Angeles. “We’ve continued to have a friendship and, well, I recently sort of re-engaged with Joni, and that’s been wonderful,” he explained. “She came to a show of mine recently, at the Hollywood Bowl, which was an unusual thing for her to do. But she’s recovering, she’s coming back — which is an amazing thing to be able to do — and I wonder what she has to tell us about that.” Given that Mitchell’s last album, Shine, was released back in 2007, so do we.