Joni Mitchell awarded honorary doctorate by Berklee College of Music

“Well, luckily, I’m too old to get a swelled head.”

Joni Mitchell has been awarded with an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.

The award was bestowed at a private event in Santa Monica earlier this week, with Mitchell receiving her certification from Berklee’s Office of the President and Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.

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During her acceptance speech, Mitchell joked that she’s “too old to get a swelled head.”

She added that she wished her parents could have been alive to see her receive her degree.

“My mother in particular would be really proud of this because she wanted me to go to college,” she said. “I went to art school and I quit after a year. She thinks of me as a quitter. So to see this achievement would be really impressive to her. I wish I could share it with her.”

Mitchell was honoured, Berklee’s president Erica Muhl said, for being “a force for change in the industry” and for “blazing the trail for women in music.”

Read more, and see photos from the ceremony, at Berklee’s website.