Joni Mitchell, legendary Canadian singer, suffered 'minor medical emergency,' says friend

Canadian folk legend Joni Mitchell remains in intensive care and is undergoing tests at a Los Angeles hospital, according to a statement posted on a dedicated fan website. 

A friend of the singer-songwriter told CBC News producer Leslie Stojsic on Wednesday that the 71-year-old suffered a "minor medical emergency" Tuesday.

The unnamed source also contradicted earlier reports that the singer, known for such hit songs as Both Sides Now and A Case of You, was found unconscious when she was taken from her home.

Late Tuesday Pacific Time, the fan website JoniMitchell.com, which is not connected with Mitchell's record label or management, issued a statement indicating that the Alberta-born artist was "awake and in good spirits," after arriving at the hospital.

"Light a candle and sing a song, let's all send good wishes her way," the statement read.

Los Angeles fire officials earlier said paramedics answered an afternoon 911 call in Bel Air, where Mitchell lives, and took a patient to the hospital.

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Mitchell told Billboard magazine in December that she has a rare skin condition, Morgellons disease, which prevents her from performing. Still, she released a career-spanning four-disc box set last year and appeared at Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy party in February.

The singer has received eight Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 2002. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Mitchell, who was born in Fort Macleod, Alta., is also a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

She has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto and a commemorative stamp, and is a companion of the Order of Canada.

She started her career as a street musician in Canada before moving to southern California, where she became part of the flourishing folk scene in the late 1960s. Her second album, Clouds, was a breakthrough with such songs as Both Sides Now and Chelsea Morning, winning Mitchell the Grammy for best folk performance.

Her 1970 album, Ladies of the Canyon, featured the hit single Big Yellow Taxi and the era-defining Woodstock. The following year, she released Blue, which ranks 30th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Mitchell has released 19 original albums, the most recent in 2007. The anthology released last year, Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced, features remastered versions of 53 of her songs.

Her musical style integrates folk and jazz elements, and she counts jazz giants Charles Mingus and Pat Metheny among her past collaborators.

As with music, Mitchell taught herself painting as a child and has produced hundreds of works in ink, watercolour and acrylic.