The Truth About James Taylor And Joni Mitchell's Relationship Today
The supreme musical legacy of James Taylor has extended through the annals of modern songs for decades. Listeners are all too familiar with the sweet melodies that seem to soothe and nurture a troubled mind in cradle-like fashion, but Taylor's personal and professional life have endured a series of compromising hurdles throughout the years. Recovery from childhood trauma, heroin addiction, and self-doubt make up a good part of his history, but the relationships he built within that time frame have survived in ways that the hardships have not.
In 1970, Taylor met and began a relationship with fellow indie-folk singer Joni Mitchell. The shared a year-long romance before calling it quits (per The Guardian). At the time, Mitchell was building a name for herself as a musician and forging her own relationships that ultimately blossomed into a momentous career that have enthroned her as an icon today.
Over 50 years later, the two musical titans still have a sincere and vibrant friendship.
Their friendship today
"We've continued to have a friendship and, well, I recently sort of re-engaged with Joni, and that's been wonderful," Taylor shared in 2020 (via The Guardian). "She came to a show of mine recently, at the Hollywood Bowl, which was an unusual thing for her to do."
"You Can Close Your Eyes" was released in 1970 and performed by the pair on stage in October of the same year. Mitchell and Taylor wrote the song while they were still together, and it's become one of the most popular of either's career (per The Insider). In years following, their romance would inspire various songs by and about one another.
Joni Mitchell suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015 and has spent a good amount of time since recovering. In 2021 during a speech delivered at the Kennedy Center Honors, Mitchell addressed her condition in a hopeful tone: "I've had to come back several times from things. And this last one was a real whopper. But, you know, I'm hobbling along but I'm doing all right! (via NME)"