Culture & Arts
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Joni Mitchell becomes US citizen after 62 years in America
Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell has become a US citizen, marking the milestone on Instagram with the caption "A journey that began 62 years ago" after first moving from Canada to the United States in the mid-1960s.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 14, 2026
• 2 Min Read
The Canada-born singer-songwriter, 82, is now a US citizen after more than six decades spent living and working in America.
The ceremony announcement
Mitchell shared footage of her citizenship ceremony on Instagram, posting a photo of herself beside an American flag alongside the caption "A journey that began 62 years ago.". The post marks the formal end of a move she first made in the mid-1960s.
A journey that began 62 years ago.
From Alberta to the American folk circuit
Born in Fort Macleod, Alberta, in 1943, Mitchell grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where her earliest gigs were in local folk clubs before she moved on to Calgary and Toronto. In Toronto she met the US folk singer Chuck Mitchell; the two married in 1965 and she relocated to the United States. The marriage ended two years later, by which point she had made a name for herself on the US folk circuit.
- •Released her debut album in 1968
- •Moved to Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon on the strength of its royalties
- •Recorded her first gold-selling album there, Ladies of the Canyon
- •Stayed in California and now lives in Santa Barbara
Why the vote mattered to her
Citizenship means Mitchell can now vote in US elections, something she had said she was unable to do. At a 2024 concert she voiced her frustration, saying "I wish I could vote ... I'm a Canadian. I'm one of those lousy immigrants". The same night she commented on the YG rap track, saying "Fuck Donald Trump, I love that song".
Recent years and what comes next
Mitchell's most recent studio album remains 2007's Shine. She suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015 that required an extensive recovery, then returned to live performance in 2022 with an unannounced set at the Newport folk festival and has since staged her all-star Joni Jam concerts. A biopic directed by Cameron Crowe, who began work on it in the early 2020s, is in preparation; earlier this year Clive Davis announced at a party that Meryl Streep would play Mitchell in the film.
