Actually, Sting, a latter-day singer-songwriter, I think rightly, gives that distinction to John Dowland, a contemporary of Shakespeare and Elizabeth I.
Still she was (and is) an exemplar of the type, and I’ll second everyone on the thread who likes her in spite of her politics.
Agreed. You can be an ideological and political moron,but still be a genius in other areas,such is the case with Ms. Mitchell.
While there may be some case where politics trumps all beyond any redemption (Mussolini made the trains run on time), imho Joni Mitchell's politics calls to mind the case of a Communist who was a marine on Guadalcanal. His pals used to comment that it didn't matter if he was red because he was never yellow...