Joni Mitchell Signs to Starbucks' Hear Music Label

Last week Rock Daily reported that the next Hear Music signing would be "one of the all-time great female artists." Today, Starbucks' label made it official, announcing Joni Mitchell will join the label following the success of its first major star, Paul McCartney, whose Memory Almost Full generated 47 percent of its sales in Starbucks stores. Mitchell's first Hear Music album is actually her third effort with the Seattle-based company -- she has released one compilation of her favorite music and another where artists like Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan chose their favorite tracks of hers. The forthcoming Shine will hit stores on September 25 and is a part of a series of new work that includes a ballet and an art exhibit. It is also Mitchell's first album of new material since 1998, and she describes it as "as serious a work as I've ever done."

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Song Stories

“The Pretender”

Foo Fighters | 2007

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."

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