Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, strumming her guitar outside The Revolution club in London, 1968Central Press / Getty Images
For many of her fans, the name “Joni Mitchell” will forever be identified with songs about New York and California. But Mitchell came by her folk roots via small towns in Canada, in rural Saskatchewan. In 1965, the young folk singer met an American and went with him to the United States, marrying and divorcing him and honing her craft in Detroit, New York City and of course Los Angeles’ iconic Laurel Canyon. She eventually became an American citizen and has written songs like “Holy War,” a song about wars fought for religious reasons that is widely interpreted as critical of George W. Bush and American foreign policy.