Joni Mitchell gets honorary degree

MONTREAL, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Canadian music legend Joni Mitchell loosened up the crowd before accepting her honorary degree from McGill University, the CBC reported Thursday.

Mitchell used her Bugs Bunny impression to break the ice at the solemn occasion, saying now that she has a doctorate of music, everyone would have to greet her with "Eh, what's up, doc?" she joked, imitating the voice of the cartoon legend.

Mitchell, 60, urged music graduates of the Montreal school to "think about balance in art" and told them not to ignore music's emotional side in favor of its intellectual content.

"The music I like is a balance of opposites," said Mitchell, who started in the 1960s as a folk singer-songwriter, but went on to perform a variety of genres, including jazz, rock, big-band and world beat.

"The music that I loved was very far away from what I was making," Mitchell said of her beginnings.

The presentation of the honorary degree followed a day-long academic symposium in honor of the Alberta-born Mitchell, who has retired from singing and spends much of her time painting at her California home.