Joni Mitchell, then known as Joan Anderson, began pursuing music after dropping out of the Alberta College of Art, which eventually led her to a rundown Toronto boarding house. She lived there with Brad MacMath, her boyfriend and fellow artist, with whom she got pregnant in 1964. Kelly Dale Anderson, named after the shade of Kelly green, was born on February 19, 1965. As Mitchell alludes in her song "Little Green," MacMath left her and her baby for California.
At a time when single mothers were largely frowned upon, Mitchell attempted to steady the boat by marrying a contemporary folk singer, Chuck Mitchell. The marriage only lasted a couple of years, but Mitchell's time with her daughter was even shorter. The rising folk star placed her baby, who would later be renamed Kilauren Gibb, up for adoption at six months old.
Mitchell eventually reunited with her daughter when Kilauren was 32, per a Maclean's profile on the singer and her long-lost child in 1997. The highly publicized homecoming came at a cost, with the press quickly hounding Gibb, her adopted family, and Mitchell's parents. "I've had pain and joy in my life, but nothing like this," Mitchell said of the experience. "It's an unparalleled emotional feeling."
