On May 7 in history: 1983: Joni performs at Verona Arena in Italy
1996: Joni attends a Polar Prize press conference. 1997: Joni was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [today] in Cleveland but she did not attend the proceedings. Jann Wenner, co-founder of both the Hall of Fame and "Rolling Stone" magazine, gave a few opening remarks about Joni Mitchell and her place in music history, and then showed her induction film. Following the thunderous applause for the film (Go Norm!), he introduced singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin. Before beginning her induction speech, Shawn sang a terrific live version of "Free Man In Paris" that was quite true to Joni's original on the album "Court and Spark." Speaking off-the-cuff after the song, a nervous Shawn proved she's a huge Joni Mitchell fan by her opening statement: "Joni's an artist who has meant just absolutely the world to me." Shawn then related that she was introduced to Joni's music when she was 13: "I went to church-camp and some 14 year olds told me that I was really nowhere unless I'd heard Joni Mitchell. So I went and bought the album "Clouds" ...and it changed my life." Graham Nash then accepted for Joni with a short but eloquent speech that began: "For the last half of my life, Crosby has been getting me into deep shit. It was never truer than when in 1966 (it was actually 1967), he introduced me to a woman that I fell madly in love with after looking at her, and listening one on one to at least 20 of the most fabulous songs that I'd ever heard in my life and there was no question that this woman was a force to be reckoned with." He defended Joni's inclusion as a rocker by saying : "...She's a very tough lady and she's always been a rock and roller at heart. She's always been and wanted to be one of the boys." He mentioned that Joni has had quite a tremendous year beginning with her 2 Grammy Awards in February 1996. He then added that one of the reasons that Joni wasn't there at the ceremonies was because she's still enjoying bonding with her daughter Kilauren after being reunited 32 years after she gave her up for adoption. Later during the all-star jam that ends every Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, James Taylor performed "Woodstock," which was a #11 hit for Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1970.
