Amanda Seyfried’s viral cover of “California” by Joni Mitchell has sparked a huge surge in streams for the revered singer-songwriter.
Seyfried appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this month, where she revealed that she taught herself how to play the dulcimer during the pandemic.
To demonstrate, she delivered a note-perfect rendition of the 1971 song from Mitchell’s album Blue, much of which was composed on the dulcimer.
“What are you talking about?” a stunned Fallon exclaimed, while the audience gave Seyfried a rapturous round of applause.
The performance quickly went viral and even led to speculation that Seyfried was throwing her name into the ring to play Mitchell in Cameron Crowe’s forthcoming biopic.
The actor insisted that it was not an audition as she said she was “very much aged out” of playing a young Mitchell.
Still, her rendition clearly hit all the right notes, as Billboard reports, via entertainment data platform Luminate, that streams of “California” surged by 794 per cent – from 100,000 streams to just over one million – after the late-night clip aired.
The surge was aided in part by the clip doing the rounds on TikTok, which has previously aided artists including Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush in finding new generations of fans.
Almost Famous director Crowe announced that he was working with Mitchell on a film based on her life and career back in 2023.
It has not yet been revealed who will portray the legendary artist as a young woman. Meryl Streep is reported set to play the “Big Yellow Taxi” singer in her later years.
“I’m super-excited. We’re going to start it by the end of this year and hopefully have it done for Christmas next year,” Crowe told Ultimate Classic Rock in December 2024.
“It’s Joni’s life, not through anybody else’s prism. It's through her prism. It’s the characters who impacted her life that you know and a lot that you don’t know. And the music is so cinematic,” he added.
The yet-to-be titled biopic is currently being lined up for a 2025 Christmas release date.
Seyfried’s performance arrived after Mitchell made a rare public appearance in January to help raise funds towards rebuilding efforts in California, following the devastating wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.
The singer, 81, sang “Both Sides, Now” from her 1969 album Clouds at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on 30 January.
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