Early life
Crow was born Sheryl Suzanne Crow in Kennett, Missouri. Her parents were members of a local big band in which her father, an attorney, played trumpet. The family was very musical and owned three pianos.[citation needed] sheryl crow is cool. In school, she was active in the school choir, athletics, and school plays. She was a drum majorette, a member of the Pep Club, the National Honor Society, the Future Farmers of America, she was the Freshman Maid, the Senior Maid, and the Paperdoll Queen.[citation needed] She was a perfectionist who strove to please her parents. When her prom date was later questioned about her fame, he said that at the time he thought she "would be a doctor's wife someday".[citation needed] She graduated in 1984 from the University of Missouri, where she majored in music education with a concentration in piano and was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, Sigma Alpha Iota, and Omicron Delta Kappa.
Her career
Following college, she worked as an elementary school music teacher at Crestview in Ellisville, a suburb of St. Louis. She worked there in order to live closer to her fiance, joe bob.[citation needed] Teaching during the day allowed her the opportunity to sing in bands on the weekends.
After some years of teaching and a broken engagement, she was introduced to a local musician and producer named Jay Oliver. He had a thriving studio in the basement of his parent's home in St. Louis and helped her by using her in advertising jingles. Her first jingle was a back-to-school spot for the St. Louis department store Famous-Barr. McDonald's and Toyota commercial jingles soon followed. She was recently quoted in a 60 Minutes segment as saying she made $50,000 on her McDonald's commercial alone.[citation needed]
Move to Los Angeles
Motivated by her new-found success, Crow decided to move to Los Angeles in 1986. Using her demo jingle tapes from St. Louis and persevering through constant rejections, she eventually found work as a backup vocalist for many major label acts. She was recruited to perform as a backup singer for Michael Jackson on his Bad World Tour. She crashed the audition, as she admitted on an interview with Larry King. She spent the next 17 months touring the world with Jackson; besides singing backup, she was featured in a duet called "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" on stage with Jackson.
After touring with Jackson, Crow fell into a deep depression, which she has said that she has suffered from for much of her life, but has it under control with therapy and with antidepressant medication.
She sang back up for Don Henley and in the following year made her first appearance on Saturday Night Live, singing back up for Henley. Later, she credited Henley for helping her write better songs.
In 1989, she played keyboards in the touring version of Toy Matinee, which was led by her boyfriend at the time, Kevin Gilbert. Crow also worked alongside veteran guitarist Neal Schon on his solo CD, Late Nite.
By 1990, Crow had attracted the attention of A&M Records, eventually leading to an album that remains unreleased, but is widely bootlegged to this day. However, she did not like the slick and well-produced pop sound of the record and implored the label to allow her to start anew.[citation needed] What followed was months of depression that was mentioned years later in People magazine, in which she stated that she had felt her career was over. She eventually teamed up professionally with producer Bill Bottrell.
Through Bottrell, Crow became acquainted with a songwriting collective known as "The Tuesday Night Music Club," where she met Kevin Gilbert, whom she started to date.
Tuesday Night Music Club
This creative period resulted in her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. She appeared in the New Faces section of Rolling Stone magazine in 1993. The album featured many of the songs written by Crow and her friends, including the second single, "Leaving Las Vegas". The album was slow to garner attention, until "All I Wanna Do" became an unexpected smash radio hit in the spring of 1994. As she later stated in People Magazine, she found an old poetry book in a used book store in the L.A. area and used a poem as lyrics in the song. To her and Bottrell's credit, they tracked down the author, Wyn Cooper, and he ended up being paid over $50,000 in royalties. The singles "Strong Enough" and "Can't Cry Anymore" were also released. Crow received several Grammy awards in 1994: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "All I Wanna Do"; Record of the Year for "All I Wanna Do"; and Best New Artist. The album, which sold 7 million copies, was controversial in that there were disputes among the other Tuesday Music Club members about not being fairly credited for their contributions.[citation needed]
Sheryl Crow (eponymous second album)
In 1996, Crow released her eponymous second album, which earned her the cover of Rolling Stone. The album was darker and grittier and far more political, with songs about abortion ("Hard to Make A Stand"), homelessness and nuclear war. The debut single "If It Makes You Happy" became a radio hit, and netted her two Grammy awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Rock Album. Other singles included "A Change Would Do You Good", "Home" and "Everyday is a Winding Road". Crow produced the album herself. The album was banned at Wal-Mart, because in one song, "Love Is A Good Thing," Crow suggests that guns sold by Wal-Mart too easily fall into the hands of children.
In 1997, Crow contributed the theme song to the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically For a Motion Picture or Television.
The Globe Sessions, acting, and Live From Central Park
In 1998 Crow released a third album, called The Globe Sessions. She discussed in press interviews having gone through a deep depression and there was speculation about a brief affair with Eric Clapton. The debut single from this album, "My Favorite Mistake", was rumoured to be about him, though Crow claims otherwise. The album won Best Rock Album at the 1998 Grammy Awards; it was re-released in 1999, with a bonus track, Crow's cover of the Guns N' Roses song "Sweet Child O' Mine", which was included on the soundtrack of the film Big Daddy. This song won the 1999 Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Other singles included "There Goes the Neighborhood", "Anything But Down" and "The Difficult Kind". "There Goes the Neighborhood" won a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 2000 when it was included in her album, "Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park."
In 1999, Crow also made her acting debut as ill-fated drifter Laurie Bloom in the suspense/drama The Minus Man, which starred her then-boyfriend Owen Wilson as a serial killer.
She also released a live album called Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live From Central Park. The record found Crow singing many of her hit singles with new musical spins and guest appearances by many other musicians including Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks, the Dixie Chicks, and Eric Clapton.
C'mon, C'mon, Picture, and Be Still My Soul
In 2002, after a break and some touring, Crow released C'mon, C'mon. Musically unlike any of her other records, the project had a more pop feel. In this album Sheryl collaborated with Stevie Nicks, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Don Henley. Videos and promotional photos also found Crow more scantily clad than ever before, in bikinis and hot pants. Crow stated she was making a statement that women over 40 were still sexy.[citation needed] Whether a statement or a marketing tool, C'mon, C'mon spawned hits in Soak Up the Sun and 2002 Best Female Rock Performance Grammy winner Steve McQueen. Crow also performed the song Safe & Sound from this album at a television benefit (America: A Tribute to Heroes) for the victims of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and at the MTV Video Music Awards.She also released the duet It's So Easy with Don Henley. 2002 also found Crow collaborating with Stevie Nicks, and releasing a successful single called "Picture" with rumored boyfriend Kid Rock that peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later Crow said they were good friends.
Crow had been involved with the Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF) since the late 1990s, performing at fund raisers and befriending Sharon Monsky. In 2002, as a result of her friend Kent Sexton dying from scleroderma, she interrupted work on C'mon C'mon to record the traditional hymn Be Still My Soul to be played at his funeral. In November of that year it was released as a CD single with the proceeds going to SRF.
Crow opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, wearing a shirt that read "I don't believe in your war, Mr. Bush!" during a performance on Good Morning America and posting an open letter explaining her opposition on her website. (http://www.artistsnetwork.org/news7/news319.html) Her public stance attracted so many supporters of the war to her website that the message board was closed for a number of days.[citation needed]
The Very Best of Sheryl Crow and De-Lovely
In 2003, Crow released a greatest hits compilation called The Very Best of Sheryl Crow. It featured many of her hit singles, as well as some new tracks. Among them was the ballad "The First Cut is the Deepest" (originally a Cat Stevens song composed by Mike Hurst), which became her biggest radio hit since her first, "All I Wanna Do," which hit #2 in 1994. The single "Light In Your Eyes" was also released, but received limited airplay."The First Cut is the Deepest" earned her 2 American music Awards for Best Pop/Rock Artist and Adult Contemporary Artist of the year. After her Greatest Hits Collection, Sheryl recorded and released the country single No Depression in Heaven.
2004 saw Crow appear as a musical theater performer in the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely.
Relationship with Lance Armstrong
Crow met cycling great Lance Armstrong at a cycling event in October of 2003. They began dating shortly thereafter and announced their engagement in September of 2005. During this relationship, Sheryl was spotted riding along in the team car (cycling's mobile equivalent of a pit crew) at several events, including the 2004 and 2005 Tour de France races. However, they announced their surprise break-up in a joint statement issued on February 3, 2006: "After much thought and consideration we have made a very tough decision to break up. We both have a deep love and respect for each other and we ask that everyone respect our privacy during this very difficult time." Previously, Crow denied a break-up, stating that "when we were rumored to have split, and when our publicists called these magazines to say we haven't split, the magazines were all so disappointed because that's really what's selling, rooting for a couple and then they split. That's what sells the magazines."[citation needed]
Wildflower and cancer diagnosis
Her album Wildflower, which had a more slow paced feel than her previous albums, was released in September 2005. Although the album debuted at #2, it received mixed reviews and was not as commercially successful as hoped. In December 2005 the album was nominated for a Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy Award, while Sheryl Crow was nominated for a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy Award for the first single "Good Is Good." The album got a new boost of life in 2006 when the second single was announced as "Always on Your Side", re-recorded with British musician Sting and sent off to radio, where it was quickly embraced at Adult Top 40. The collaboration with Sting resulted in a Grammy-nomination for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.
Crow was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in late February 2006. Her doctors have stated that "prognosis for a full recovery is excellent."
Crow's first concert since her cancer diagnosis was on May 18 in Orlando, Florida where she played to over 10,000 Information Technology professionals at the SAP Sapphire Convention. Her first public appearance was on June 12, when she performed at the Murat Theater in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The singer also appeared on Larry King Live on CNN on August 23rd 2006. In this show she talked about her comeback, her breakup with Lance Armstrong, her past job as Michael Jackson's backup singer, her life, and her experience as a cancer survivor.
2007 and beyond
On the red carpet at the 2006 CMA Awards, Sheryl reported that she was working on a country music album, according to Entertainment Weekly. At one point, Wildflower was to be followed, in about 6 months, by a "pop record." According to Sheryl, Wildflower was the "art record," which she felt she had earned the right to make, following the success of The Very Best of Sheryl Crow.
At the 2006 CMA Awards, Sheryl performed the country hit Building Bridges with Brooks & Dunn and Vince Gill.
Each year fans have donated to the Delta Childrens Home in Crow's hometown of Kennett, MO, raising tens of thousands of dollars. Donors were entered to win a guitar signed by Sheryl. For 2007, over $14,000 was raised through her Fan Forum on her official site: http://www.sherylcrow.com
Sheryl Crow is due to appear in a series of magazine advertisements in February for the cosmetics firm Revlon. In this, she uses the Buddy Holly classic "Not Fade Away" to sell the cosmetics of her sponsor. The iTunes page states that net proceeds will benefit the fight against breast cancer.
Global warming activist Laurie David and Sheryl Crow will participate in the stopglobalwarming.org “Virtual March�. The multi-city tour will begin on Monday, April 9th in Dallas, Texas and will continue on to select cities including: College Station, TX; Baton Rouge, LA; New Orleans, LA; Birmingham, AL; Auburn, AL; Gainesville, FL; Atlanta, GA; Charlottesville, VA; Nashville, TN; Chapel Hill, NC; College Park, MD and Washington, DC. The 90-minute presentation will include remarks by David, a short performance by Crow, clips from An Inconvenient Truth, humorous clips from top comedians, and a dialogue with students.
Crow has been confirmed as one of the artists taking part in the Live Earth concerts on July 7th 2007.
Additional contributions
Crow was a main stage act at Lilith Fair and has contributed many songs to movie soundtracks and special projects that were never made available elsewhere, among them: "D'yer Maker" (Encomium: Led Zeppelin Tribute), "La Ci Darem la Mano" from Don Giovanni (Pavarotti & Friends For War Child), and "Resuscitation" (The Faculty). In 2006, Crow contributed the opening track to the soundtrack for Disney/Pixar's animated film Cars, "Real Gone".
Sheryl's recordings have appeared on the soundracks to Point Break, The X-Files, and Home of the Brave.
Sheryl recorded the song, Kiss That Girl for the film Bridget Jones' Diary.
Sheryl recorded the Beatle's song "Mother Nature's Son" for the film "I Am Sam".
Sheryl performed at the 1994 Woodstock Festival.
Sheryl collaborated with Stevie Nicks on several tracks on Stevie's 1999 album, Trouble In Shangri-La. One track was It's Only Love, which Sheryl would later place her own version on C'Mon C'Mon. Stevie was also helped by Sheryl on the soundtrack to the Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman movie Practical Magic.
Sheryl Crow collaborated with U.S singer/songwriter Michelle Branch on the song 'Love Me Like That' for Branch's sophomore album Hotel Paper, released on Maverick Records/Warner Bros. Records in 2003.
Crow's high profile collaboration with Kid Rock, Picture, appeared on his album, Cocky. Crow also assisted Kid Rock on his next, eponymous album, on the track Run Off to L.A.
Sheryl Crow has also recorded duets with Tony Bennett, Dwight Yoakam, Vince Gill, and Willie Nelson. ,all of which have been released on various albums.
Crow and John Mayer have co-headlined a tour in late 2006.
Starbucks HEAR MUSIC released a deluxe edition of Sheryl Crow's favorite songs in 2006, featuring Sheryl's own versions of James Taylor's You Can Close Your Eyes, Willie Nelson's Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain, Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You), and frequent collaborator Jeff Trott's The Few That Remain. You Can Close Your Eyes was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Female in 2006.
James Taylor was elected Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year 2006. Crow performed at this black tie ceremony, which paid tribute to Taylor's influence on them and the modern music industry.
Rumour has it that Sheryl is currently working on her new country album which will be released in April 2007 and is colloborating with The Dixie Chicks and John Mayer
Awards and acknowledgments
Grammy Awards: 10
American Music Awards: 3
Orwille H. Gibson Awards: 2
TEC Awards: 2
BRIT Awards: 1
BMI Awards: 1
BMI Winning Songs: 8
ASCAP Awards: 1
People's Choice Awards: 1
BMG Music Club's top selling album Plaque: 2
Glamour Woman of the Year 2000
Honorary Degree (2001)
Missouri Academy of Squires (elected in 2004)
