Joni Mitchell Makes A Candid Admission About Her Decades-Long Feud With Bob Dylan
Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan were the folk icons of the 1960s and '70s. And when they've shared the stage over the years, they appeared to get along perfectly fine. But behind the scenes, it seems that serious tensions were brewing. Over the past decade, in fact, the songwriting legends revealed their true feelings about each other — and the brutal truth was revealed.
Feud with Bob Dylan
Mitchell is pretty well known for speaking her mind in interviews, of course. Remember when she angered her fans by saying she's "not a feminist"? But in 2021 she sparked a whole new controversy when she name-dropped Bob Dylan several times — and was not shy about her opinion of one of her biggest artistic rivals.
They were compared and celebrated
From the beginning of their careers, after all, Mitchell and Dylan intermingled in the Southern California music scene. Both Mitchell and Dylan also wrote some of the most poetic and powerful songs of the '60s and '70s. Yet while they were often compared and celebrated by the same fanbase, there wasn't much love lost between them.
Party faux pas
What caused the rift between Mitchell and Dylan? There's no straight and simple answer, but the roots of their feud go way back to the beginning. The rumor mill always seems to agree that it probably started at a house party thrown by their mutual friend and collaborator, David Geffen. The most famous transgression between Dylan and Mitchell took place sometime in the early seventies.
The ultimate diss
Bob committed the ultimate sign of disrespect to a fellow artist during a listening party in 1974. While Joni debuted songs off her acclaimed album Court and Spark, Dylan fell asleep! We're talking about the album that was a critical and commercial smash and is still considered Mitchell's magnum opus. Obviously, this didn't sit well with Mitchell.
