Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Kennett, Missouri. She works in alternative rock, americana, pop and rock, and her music also draws on country, folk and blues rock. She plays guitar, bass, piano and sings, and is also known as a political activist.

Early life and education

Crow is born in 1962 in Kennett, Missouri. Her parents are both musicians in a local big band; her father is an attorney who plays trumpet. She grows up in a musical household with three pianos. At school she sings in choir, takes part in athletics and school plays, and later becomes a drum majorette. She is also involved in the Pep Club, the National Honor Society, Future Farmers of America, and is named Freshman Maid, Senior Maid and Paperdoll Queen.

She graduates from the University of Missouri in 1984 with a music education degree focused on piano.

Early career

After college, Crow teaches elementary school music in a suburb of St. Louis while singing in weekend bands. She begins writing and recording advertising jingles, starting with a Famous-Barr back-to-school commercial, followed by work for McDonald’s and Toyota. This leads her to move to Los Angeles in 1986.

In Los Angeles, she works as a backing vocalist for major label acts. She sings on Michael Jackson’s Bad tour, including a live duet on “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, and later backs Don Henley. In 1989 she also plays keyboards in the touring version of Toy Matinee, led by Kevin Gilbert.

Breakthrough and debut album

A&M Records signs her in the early 1990s, and her first intended album remains unreleased and widely bootlegged. She then works with producer Bill Bottrell and the songwriting collective known as The Tuesday Night Music Club. Her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club, becomes a major success after a slow start. It includes “Leaving Las Vegas”, “All I Wanna Do”, “Run, Baby, Run” and “Strong Enough”. “All I Wanna Do” becomes a major radio hit and brings her Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist. The album sells seven million copies, although it is also marked by disputes over songwriting credit.

Continued success in the 1990s

Her self-titled second album, released in 1996, is darker and more political. It includes “If It Makes You Happy”, “A Change Would Do You Good”, “Home” and “Everyday Is a Winding Road”. The album wins Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Rock Album. Crow produces the record herself.

In 1997 she writes and performs the title song for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, which is nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. In 1998 she releases The Globe Sessions, which wins Best Rock Album at the Grammy Awards. The album includes “My Favorite Mistake”, “There Goes the Neighborhood”, “Anything But Down” and “The Difficult Kind”. A later re-release adds her cover of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, which appears on the soundtrack to Big Daddy and wins a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. “There Goes the Neighborhood” later wins the same award when included on her live release Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park.

She also makes her acting debut in 1999 in The Minus Man, playing Laurie Bloom. The film stars Owen Wilson. That year she also releases Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park, a live album featuring guest appearances from Stevie Nicks, the Dixie Chicks and Eric Clapton.

2000s releases and collaborations

In 2002 Crow releases C’mon, C’mon, which has a more pop-oriented sound than her earlier work. Its singles include “Soak Up the Sun” and “Steve McQueen”, with the latter winning Best Female Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards. She also performs “Safe & Sound” at a benefit for victims of the September 11 attacks and at the MTV Video Music Awards. In the same period she records “Picture” with Kid Rock, which becomes a major hit, and collaborates with Stevie Nicks.

Crow releases The Very Best of Sheryl Crow in 2003. The compilation includes hits and new tracks, including “The First Cut Is the Deepest”, which becomes her biggest radio hit since “All I Wanna Do”, and “Light in Your Eyes”. In 2004 she appears in the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely and performs “Begin the Beguine”.

Her 2005 album Wildflower includes “Good Is Good” and “Always on Your Side”, the latter re-recorded with Sting and later sent to radio. She is nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, and “Good Is Good” is nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Other work and activism

Crow is a main-stage act at Lilith Fair. She contributes songs to film soundtracks and special projects, including “D’yer Maker” for Encomium: Led Zeppelin Tribute, “La Ci Darem la Mano” from Don Giovanni for Pavarotti & Friends For War Child, “Resuscitation” for The Faculty, and “Real Gone” for the soundtrack to Disney/Pixar’s Cars.

She is also known for political statements, including opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She publicly wears a shirt reading “I don’t believe in your war, Mr. Bush!” during a performance on Good Morning America and posts an open letter on her website.

Crow is diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in 2006.

Recognition

Crow wins nine Grammy Awards across her career. Her recorded work ranges across alternative rock, americana, pop and rock, with a catalogue that also draws on blues rock, country and folk influences.