Joni Mitchell is glad to be alive. Accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Juno Awards, the singer opened up about a 2015 aneurysm and recent health struggles.

After suffering an aneurysm, Mitchell said that she had to learn how to walk and talk again. It was a long process to recover.

"I want to thank the Junos for this great honor. I really appreciate it. I'm so glad to be back in Canada," she said. "Some years ago - 10 or 12 years ago, I forget how long ago - I had an aneurysm, which changed my life, oddly, for the better."

After the aneurysm, she was in a coma for a bit. The one good thing to come out of the incident was she learned to stop smoking. She also praised her hospital staff for helping her during this time.

"My home's filled up with the most wonderful nurses. I was on the road with men for years and years and years, now I live with a house full of women, and I have a fantastic therapist [who] goes everywhere with me," she said. "So my life has changed for the better out of a catastrophe, like a phoenix who grows a better life."

It's not the first time she's spoken about her aneurysm. Previously, she said she had to relearn a lot of things after her aneurysm.

"I'm learning," she said. "I'm looking at videos that are on the net to see where I put my fingers, you know. It's amazing what an aneurysm knocks out - how to get out of chair! You don't know how to get out of a bed. You have to learn all these things by rote again. I was into water ballet as a kid, and I forgot how to do the breaststroke. Every time I tried it, I just about drowned, you know? So, a lot of going back to infancy almost. You have to relearn everything."

But she was determined to fight and to improve her health.

"I knew, 'Here I go again, another battle,'" she said.