Joni Mitchell has been named as MusiCares’ 2022 ‘Person Of The Year’.

MusiCares, the charity arm of The Recording Academy which hosts the annual Grammy awards, each year selects a musical figure to commend for their artistic achievements and philanthropy.

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Mitchell will be at the centre of a tribute concert that will take place on January 29, 2022 during Grammy week in Los Angeles, US. Performers are yet to be announced.

The news arrives weeks after the 50th anniversary of Mitchell‘s landmark 1971 album Blue. Mitchell is also among this year’s Kennedy Center honorees alongside Berry Gordy, Bette Midler, Lorne Michaels and more.

Veteran rockers Aerosmith were recipients of last year’s MusiCares award while country legend Dolly Parton took the crown in 2019.

Joni Mitchell in 1976.
Joni Mitchell in 1976. Credit: Larry Hulst/Getty Images

The tribute concert for Parton was released on Netflix earlier this year. Throughout the 2019 event, acts including Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson and Chris Stapleton paid tribute by covering Parton’s hits live onstage.

“MusiCares brought together some incredible artists to celebrate my career in 2019. Soon you can watch that unforgettable night whenever you want!” Dolly wrote as the caption to the one-minute trailer that was released in March.

Grammys Recording Academy
Recording Academy logo. CREDIT: Getty

In other Grammys news, the Recording Academy announced earlier this month that next year’s edition of the awards will be produced with an inclusion rider in order to ensure equity, diversity and inclusion during the production.

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Inclusion riders are a provision in a person’s (typically an actor or filmmaker) contract that provides for a certain level of diversity in casting and production staff.

A template for inclusion riders was first developed by academic Stacy L. Smith in 2016, primarily for use in the film industry.

Actor Frances McDormand popularised the concept further in 2018. While accepting her Academy Award for Best Actress, she said: “I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider!”