How will the Grammys categorize Joni Mitchell’s At Newport, a live recording of the singer/songwriter’s heartening return to the stage at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival? The album is set for release by Rhino Records on Friday (July 28).

Mitchell is Grammy royalty, with nine competitive awards, plus a lifetime achievement award in 2002. She was also the MusiCares person of the year in 2022.

The performance capped a remarkable recovery from a life-threatening aneurysm Mitchell suffered in 2015. Mitchell was backed at the live event by other major Grammy winners such as Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford and Wynonna Judd, as well as Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig from Lucius.

The big question is whether the Grammys will classify the album as folk, pop or traditional pop. Mitchell has won in all three fields over the years.

Mitchell landed her first Grammy nomination (and win) in a folk category — best folk performance for her sophomore album, Clouds (1969) — but she hasn’t been nominated in a folk category since. Turbulent Indigo (1995) won for best pop album. Both Sides Now (2000) won for best traditional pop vocal album. This new album is likely to be slotted in one of those two categories. (If it does well, it may also have a shot at an album of the year nomination.)

In terms of genre-specific performance categories, Mitchell has usually been slotted as pop. Mitchell was nominated for best pop vocal, performance, female four times – for Court and Spark (1974), The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1976), Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm (1988) and the title track from Both Sides Now. She won pop instrumental performance for “One Week Last Summer,” a track from her 2007 album Shine.

The traditional pop category was generally reserved for collections of songs from the Great American Songbook, from its inception in 1991 until fairly recently. But it has taken a broader view in recent years. The current rules state: “This category is for performances of a type and style of song that cannot properly be intermingled with present forms of pop music. This includes older forms of traditional pop such as the Great American Songbook, as well as cabaret/musical theater-style songs and previous forms of contemporary pop. This would also include contemporary pop songs performed in traditional pop style – the term ‘traditional’ being a reference, equally, to the style of the composition, vocal styling and the instrumental arrangement, without regard to the age of the material.”

Final placements are determined by a large screening committee that listens to the record and is charged with making the determination based on the sound of the music, not the artist’s image or where the album landed on various charts or (in this case) the fact that it was recorded at a festival associated with a specific genre.

Mitchell will turn 80 on Nov. 7, three days before the 66th annual Grammy Award nominations are announced on Nov. 10. The awards will be presented at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 4, 2024.

This was Mitchell’s third time performing at the Newport Folk Festival, following appearances in 1967 (where she met Leonard Cohen) and 1969 (where she met another lifelong friend and collaborator, James Taylor).

The album features live performances of such classics as “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Carey,” “Help Me,” “A Case of You” and “Both Sides Now.” Mitchell closed her set with “The Circle Game,” which she performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1967.

Mitchell wrote all of the songs on the album except “Summertime,” the Porgy & Bess classic that was written by George & Ira Gershwin and DeBose Heyward.

Music journalist-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe wrote the album’s liner notes, which could bring him his second nod for best album notes. He was nominated in 1986 for writing the notes for Bob Dylan’s Biograph.

Offset and Cardi B are reclaiming the narrative surrounding their relationship in their upcoming collaboration, “Jealousy,” and the two enlisted Taraji P. Henson for a hilarious promotional teaser shared on Thursday (July 27).

In the one-minute clip, Cardi dials up the Girls Trip star, claiming that a women is once again alleging that Offset cheated on his Grammy-winning wife. “That stank h– b—,” Henson replies. “She’s thirsty.”

Cardi then replies, “Since he [cheated] before, whether he did it or not, people are going to believe it. That’s why I want to bag this n—-. Even though it’s in the past, you should have never done it in the first place. That’s why we’re always in this motherf—ing predicament.”

When Henson asks if Cardi’s going to leave Offset, the “I Like It” rapper replies, “I love him but, b—-, I’m tired of his s—.” Offset then comes banging on Cardi’s door to talk out their issues.

Excluding their collaborations through Migos, “Jealousy” will mark the sixth time Offset and Cardi B appear on the same song as soloists. The husband-wife duo first collaborated on the remix of Cardi’s “Lick,” back in 2017. Since then, their string of collaborations have included “Um Yea,” “Who Want the Smoke?” (with Lil Yachty) and the Grammy-nominated “Clout.”

Watch the teaser below before “Jealousy” arrives in full on Friday (July 28).

Irvine, Calif. officials are considering going the way of the Greek Theatre, pausing negotiations with Live Nation for the development of a 14,000-capacity amphitheater at the city’s Great Park to consider a plan to go it alone and develop and manage a scaled-down 8,000-capacity amphitheater with city resources.

The decision surprised many during a special Irvine city council meeting on Tuesday night (July 25), when the Orange County city’s leaders were asked to approve a contract between the city and Live Nation for the development of a $130 million amphitheater to replace the non-permanent Live Nation-operated Five Points Amphitheater. Five Points opened in 2017 and was created to serve as a temporary replacement for Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, which operated from 1981 to 2016 on property that has since been converted to apartment buildings.

Live Nation had agreed to contribute $20 million to $30 million in capital costs toward the new amphitheater project and to operate the venue as an open amphitheater available to other promoters bringing shows to the region. In total, the amphitheater project would generate a projected $5 million per year for the city and run for a term of 25 years with two renewal options for 10 years each.

While several council members described the project as a good deal for the city, Irvine residents weren’t totally on board, with many complaining of possible traffic impacts as well as concerns about noise emanating from the venue. Other speakers, including John Hanna with the Southwest Mountain States Regional Council of Carpenters, said the project would bring both jobs and world-class talent to Orange County.

“We feel this is a good project. We think the City Manager has done a good job in terms of negotiations,” Hanna said, noting that the project fits with the original vision of the Great Park, “which was created to accommodate not just city members, but the entire region and this venue will do that.”

Irvine vice mayor Tammy Kim said she believed city officials needed more time to evaluate Live Nation’s proposal, which she said felt rushed through. “I think it’s important that we don’t come across as doing any backroom deals — we’re not Anaheim,” Kim said, throwing shade at the city’s neighbor, which has long been accused of having a cozy relationship with Disney.

A number of high-profile Live Nation executives were on hand to voice their support for the project, including Geni Lincoln, the company’s president of California, who said the new amphitheater would be home to “the most exciting events” and “the most diverse events” and would be open to all promoters looking to bring shows to the building.

After a four-hour meeting with more than 30 public comments, the council voted 3-2 to delay a vote on the project so that the city manager could explore a self-management strategy, which would see the city developing and building the venue itself while managing the bookings calendar between competing promoters.

Later in the meeting, city officials instructed the Irvine city manager’s office to pursue the self-management model, potentially mimicking a plan adopted by the city of Los Angeles, which ended Nederlander Concerts’ exclusive contract for the Greek Theatre in 2015. In Denver, the Red Rocks Amphitheatre has long been managed by the city and even allows visiting promoters to choose their own ticketing system.

While the self-management model at the Greek Theater — with ASM Global hired to serve as a third-party neutral manager — has netted more annual income for Los Angeles, it’s come at the expense of more than $50 million in deferred maintenance at the venue, including important earthquake retrofits.

From 1981 to 2016, Irvine Meadows hosted acts including Michael Jackson on his 1989 Bad tour, the Eagles and the Grateful Dead, who played a total of 15 shows there. Built by private investors and operated by Avalon Attractions, the amphitheater eventually landed in the hands of Live Nation in the late 1990s and served as an important Orange County stopover for bands traveling between Shoreline Amphitheater in Northern California and amphitheaters in San Diego County.

While Irvine Meadows was popular for touring amphitheater shows, the new venue would be hard-pressed to repeat the established success of the Greek Theatre, known for its historic design and location inside one of Los Angeles’ most popular park destinations. Without Live Nation, the top amphitheater promoter in the country, city officials managing the facility could face challenges bringing concerts there given Southern California’s competitive live entertainment market.