Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell hospitalized in Los Angeles

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Joni Mitchell hospitalized

'Big Yellow Taxi' singer in intensive care

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell was in intensive care at a Los Angeles-area hospital early Wednesday after being found unconscious in her home.

A statement on Mitchell's official website said the 71-year-old was undergoing tests and was "awake and in good spirits."

Mitchell's hospitalization was first reported by the website TMZ.com. The site reported that paramedics were called to Mitchell's home Tuesday afternoon. The statement on Mitchell's website said that she regained consciousness during the ambulance ride to the hospital.

Los Angeles fire officials told the Associated Press that paramedics answered an afternoon 911 call in Bel Air, where Mitchell lives, and took a patient to the hospital. But they could not verify her identity.

The Canadian-born Mitchell became a folk music icon of the late 1960s and early 1970s with songs like "Big Yellow Taxi", "Both Sides, Now", and "Woodstock".

Variety reported that Mitchell is a lifelong smoker who was once quoted as saying that "six decades of smoking have robbed me of my voice." She 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.

Mitchell 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.

She started her career as a street musician in her native 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, watercolor and acrylic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.