April 23, 2010 12:04

Joni Mitchell brands Bob Dylan a 'fake'

Singer claims there is 'nothing authentic' about legendary musician

Joni Mitchell has slammed Bob Dylan as a" deception" in a new interview.

The singer told the LA Times that she thought Dylan borrowed too heavily from other musicians, and distanced herself from being aligned with him.

"Bob is not authentic at all," she said. "He's a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I."

Dylan adopted a stage name in place of his birth name, Robert Zimmerman, at beginning of his career. When quizzed over her own name change – Mitchell was born Roberta Joan Anderson – she added: "As for my name, my parents wanted a boy, so they called me Robert John; when I came out a girl, they just added two letter A's to that."

She added: "Then I married Chuck Mitchell. I wanted to keep my maiden name — I had a bit of a following as Joni Anderson — but he wouldn't let me."