SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell announced Tuesday that she has become a United States citizen after living and working in the country for most of her career.

Mitchell shared a photograph from her naturalization ceremony and a short video in which an official calls out, “Joni Mitchell, Canada,” before the room applauds. Her caption described the milestone as “a journey that began 62 years ago.”

The announcement establishes that Mitchell completed U.S. naturalization. It does not say that she gave up Canadian citizenship, and The Northern Current has not independently verified any change to her Canadian status.

From the Prairies to the United States

Mitchell was born in Fort Macleod, Alberta, in 1943 and moved with her family to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, when she was nine. Her official biography and contemporary profiles identify Saskatoon as the hometown where her early music life took shape.

She moved to the United States with folk singer Chuck Mitchell in 1965, living first in Detroit. By the late 1960s, she had relocated to southern California, where she built the songwriting and recording career behind albums including Blue, For the Roses, Court and Spark and Hejira.

A new right to vote

Naturalization gives Mitchell the right to vote in U.S. elections. At a 2024 Los Angeles concert, she encouraged the audience to vote while noting that she could not because she was Canadian.

The citizenship announcement follows a high-profile Canadian appearance in March. At the 2026 JUNO Awards in Hamilton, Prime Minister Mark Carney presented Mitchell with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences describes her work as spanning folk, rock, pop and jazz.

Sources: Joni Mitchell’s October 13 announcement; Joni Mitchell official biography; People, October 13; The Guardian, October 14; ABC News, October 13; JUNO Awards, March 29.

Lead image: Joni Mitchell at a 2023 Library of Congress event, photographed by Elaina Finkelstein / Library of Congress Life, via Wikimedia Commons. CC0 1.0. File photograph; not from the October 2026 citizenship ceremony.