Grammy Award-winning folk singer Joni Mitchell may be allowed to leave the hospital soon after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge appointed a close friend as the singer's conservator.
Mitchell, 71, has been in a Los Angeles area hospital since March 31 after she was found unconscious in her home. Leslie Morris, a friend of Mitchell for more than 40 years, was appointed the conservator by Judge David Cunningham III,
according to The Associated Press.
Morris' filing for the conservatorship last week created widespread media speculation about Mitchell's condition, but her website rebuffed one report that she was in a coma,
reported the Bay Area News Group.
"Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet today, Joni is not in a coma," said the website. "Joni is still in the hospital – but she comprehends, she's alert, and she has her full senses."
"A full recovery is expected. The document obtained by a certain media outlet simply gives her longtime friend Leslie Morris the authority – in the absence of 24-hour doctor care – to make care decisions for Joni once she leaves the hospital," said the site. "As we all know, Joni is a strong-willed woman and is nowhere near giving up the fight. Please continue to keep Joni in your thoughts."
Mitchell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and "is one of the most acclaimed singers and songwriters to emerge in the 1960s,"
wrote Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times.
"She recorded a string of widely lauded albums in the '60s, '70s and '80s that tapped folk, rock and jazz in songs that explored the myriad nuances of interpersonal relationships. She has also established herself as a visual artist and has spent nearly as much of her life devoted to her paintings as to her music," Lewis continued.
Mitchell told
Billboard magazine in December that she had cut back her traveling because of Morgellons Disease, a skin condition she has suffered for years and which makes plane travel difficult.
The eight-time Grammy winner said in the Billboard interview that the disease made it nearly impossible for her to sing, perform or record.
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