Singer Joni Mitchell still hospitalized, but not in a coma

[April 29, 2015]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell remains hospitalized but alert and "has her full senses," her official website said Tuesday, denying various media reports that she had slipped into a coma.

Mitchell, 71, who was taken to a Los Angeles-area hospital last month after being found unconscious in her home from an undisclosed medical emergency, is expected to make a full recovery, her website said.

"As we all know, Joni is a strong-willed woman and is nowhere near giving up the fight," the statement said.

Celebrity news website TMZ first reported Mitchell was in a coma on Tuesday, citing legal documents filed by the singer's longtime friend Leslie Morris, who TMZ said was seeking conservatorship over the singer's affairs.

But Mitchell's website suggested TMZ had misinterpreted the documents in question.

"The document obtained by a certain media outlet simply gives her longtime friend Leslie Morris the authority - in the absence of 24-hour doctor care - to make care decisions for Joni once she leaves the hospital," the singer's website said.

The Canadian-born Mitchell, one of the recording stars of the Woodstock era, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and is best known for her highly influential albums in the late 1960s and '70s, including "Clouds," "Ladies of the Canyon," "Court and Spark" and "Blue."

Her sprightly soprano voice, one of the most distinctive of her generation, graced such hits as "Big Yellow Taxi, "Free Man in Paris" and "Raised on Robbery."

She made a comeback of sorts in 1995 with the album "Turbulent Indigo," which earned Mitchell her third Grammy award, for best pop album.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Leslie Adler)

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