# The singer Joni Mitchell called her first musical love: “Thrilled my soul”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-singer-joni-mitchell-called-her-first-musical-love-thrilled-my-soul/
- Published: 2026-07-31T20:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-31T21:49:02+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/singer-joni-mitchell-called-her-first-musical-love/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Édith Piaf was Joni Mitchell’s first major vocal influence.
- Mitchell said Piaf’s voice “thrilled my soul”.
- Classical music and Debussy also shaped her early tastes.

## Summary

Joni Mitchell identified French singer Édith Piaf as the first vocalist to deeply affect her, saying Piaf’s voice “thrilled my soul”. The article presents this early admiration as an important influence on Mitchell’s own artistic development, particularly her commitment to emotionally direct, expressive singing.

Mitchell’s early musical tastes also included classical music, with Claude Debussy described as her first musical love. Piaf’s dramatic delivery stood apart from that background, helping to shape Mitchell’s wide-ranging approach to songwriting and performance before she became a leading singer-songwriter herself.

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