Jewel

Jewel is the stage name of singer-songwriter Jewel Kilcher, born in 1974 in Payson, United States, and raised mainly in Homer, Alaska. She works across folk pop and pop, and is also known as a singer, actress and poet. She receives four Grammy Award nominations.

Early life and background

Jewel is the daughter of Nedra Carroll, an artist and personal manager, and Atz Kilcher, who is an elementary school music teacher, folk singer and social worker. Her mother is of Irish descent and her father is of Swiss-German origin. She is a cousin of actress Q'Orianka Kilcher. She spends much of her childhood in Homer, Alaska, living with her father in a home without indoor plumbing, using an outhouse. She and her father sometimes earn money by singing in bars and taverns, and she learns yodeling through these performances, a feature that appears in many of her songs. Her father is Mormon, though the family stops attending church shortly before she turns eight. Her grandfather, Yule Kilcher, is a state senator involved in drafting Alaska’s constitution for statehood in 1959.

Education and early performing

At Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, she studies operatic voice and learns guitar. She starts writing songs at seventeen. At one stage she lives in her van and performs street shows and small gigs while struggling financially. She gains early attention through performances at the Innerchange Coffeehouse and Java Joe’s in San Diego, where she also meets members of The Rugburns. During high school she sometimes spells her name “Jule” or “Juel” as a personal variation.

Discovery and recording career

In 1993, she is discovered in San Diego after a performance at Innerchange Coffeehouse, which leads to interest from Atlantic Records and a management deal with Inga Vainshtein. This results in a bidding war and her signing to Atlantic. Her debut album, Pieces of You, is recorded when she is nineteen and is released in 1995. Part of the album is recorded live at Innerchange Coffeehouse, and the studio recordings are made on Neil Young’s ranch with The Stray Gators, the band that plays on Harvest and Harvest Moon. The album remains on the Billboard 200 for two years, reaches number four, and produces the Top 10 singles “You Were Meant for Me,” “Who Will Save Your Soul,” and “Foolish Games.” It sells more than 12 million copies in the United States.

Jewel later works with Steve Poltz, whose band The Rugburns shares venues with her in San Diego. Poltz co-writes songs including “You Were Meant for Me,” and appears in the song’s second, best-known video. The Rugburns also open for her on the Tiny Lights tour in 1997, and Poltz plays guitar in her band on the Spirit World Tour in 1999. In 1993 she also meets Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, who describes her voice in strong terms after hearing her sing at a cafe and at her van.

Main albums and singles

Her second album, Spirit, is released in 1998, peaks at number three on the Billboard 200, and sells more than 4 million copies in the United States. Its singles include the Top 10 songs “Hands” and “Down So Long,” as well as new versions of “Jupiter (Swallow the Moon),” “What’s Simple Is True,” and the charity single “Life Uncommon.” In 1999 she releases Joy: A Holiday Collection, which sells more than a million copies and peaks at number 32 on the Billboard 200; it includes her cover of “Joy to the World.”

In 2001 she releases This Way, which peaks at number nine on the Billboard 200 and sells more than a million copies in the United States. It is described as her most critically acclaimed album to that point. The album includes the Top 10 single “Standing Still,” the Top 40 song “Break Me,” and the singles “This Way” and “Serve the Ego,” the last of which gives her a number one club hit.

In 2003 she releases 0304, which she describes as a record intended as a modern interpretation of big band music, with lyric-led writing and swing elements, and as a blend of dance, urban and folk music. The album divides opinion because of its departure from her earlier style. Its single “Intuition” moves further toward pop, using synthesizers, French accordion and pop beats, and reaches number five on the Billboard Adult Top 40.

Goodbye Alice in Wonderland follows in 2006 and debuts at number eight on the Billboard Albums Chart. Its lead single “Again and Again” reaches number 16 on Adult Top 40 radio, while “Good Day” and “Stephenville, TX” are also released.

Later career and country work

In 2007 she records a duet with Jason Michael Carroll, “No Good in Goodbye (With Jewel),” for his debut album Waitin’ in the Country. She also performs a promotional acoustic set in Boston for Verizon Yellow Pages. After leaving Atlantic Records, she signs to Valory Records, a division of Big Machine Records, and begins work in country music. Her first country album, Perfectly Clear, is issued on Valory, with “Stronger Woman” released as its lead single and entering the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. She also tours with Brad Paisley, Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough.

Musical identity

Jewel is associated with folk pop and pop, but her work also includes folk, rock and country influences. Her singing is closely linked with yodeling, which comes from her early performances in Alaska. Across her career, she moves between acoustic songwriting, pop production and country material while maintaining a strong emphasis on lyric writing.