Biography
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Sheryl Crow was born 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.
In school she was active in choir, athletics, and school
plays. Even at a young age, she was a perfectionist who
strived to please her parents. In high school she was a
drum majorette, member of the Pep Club, the National
Honor Society, Future Farmers of America, Freshman Maid,
Senior Maid and Paperdoll Queen. 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."
She graduated in 1984 from the University of Missouri
where she majored in music education with a
concentration in piano. Coincidentally, actor
Brad Pitt and
ABC-TV news anchor Elizabeth Vargas were also students
at the University of Missouri at the same time Sheryl
was studying there; however, it is unknown whether or
not any of these three future celebrities actually knew
each other while they were students at the University.
She sang in the local band Cashmere. She was a member of
the Kappa Alpha Theta social sorority, as well as Sigma
Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity.
Following college she became an elementary school music
teacher in a suburb of St. Louis where she was closer to
her fiancé. While teaching during the day she sang in
bands on the weekends. Many people who knew her socially
then describe her as a nice, kind, elementary school
teacher who was settling down to raise children and who
at times struggled to get by on a teacher's salary.
Other than comments about wanting to go to California
someday make it and her weekend band gig, few during
this period of her life saw the relentless determination
that would someday carry to a multi-millionaire rock
stardom. Or if they saw it, they didn't realize they
were witnessing a future rock star in training. This
time in her life, in retrospect, might accurately be
considered by those who knew her then as her "wilderness
years."
After a couple years of teaching and healing from a
broken engagement, she was introduced to a local
musician/producer. He had a thriving studio in the
basement of his parent's home and helped her and began
using her in 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 her 60 Minutes
segment as saying she made $50,000 on her McDonald's
commercial alone. This success spurred her into thinking
what she might do if she went into music full time.
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 tour.
Whether she crashed the audition as widely reported at
the time is uncertain. She spent the next 17 months
touring the world singing back up and a duet, "I Just
Can't Stop Loving You" on stage with Jackson. After the
tour ended in 1989 she sang back up for Don Henley and
in the following year made her first appearance on
Saturday Night Live singing back up ("time, time, take
it, take it away") for Henley. Later she credited Henley
for helping her write better songs. Also around this
time she was romantically linked to Peter Horton, star
of thirty something.
By 1990, Sheryl Crow had attracted the attention of A&M
Records, eventually leading to her debut album, to be
released in 1991. 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. What followed was
months of depression that was mentioned years later in
People Magazine where she stated she felt her career was
over. She eventually teamed up both professionally and
romantically with producer Bill Bottrell. The pair began
to meet regularly with other musicians to form what they
called "The Tuesday Night Music Club." They would get
together and improvise songs until they had finished
works.
This creative period resulted in her debut album, called
Tuesday Night Music Club. She appeared in the New Faces
section of Rolling Stone the summer of 1993. The album
featured many of the songs written by Crow and her
friends, including the first 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 and according to People magazine, he ended up
being paid over $50,000 in royalties. The singles "Run,
Baby, Run" and "Strong Enough" 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 6 million copies, was controversial in
that there were disputes among the other Tuesday Night
Music club members about not being fairly credited for
their contributions.
In 1996 Crow released her self titled second album,
which earned her the cover of Rolling Stone. The album
was darker and grittier and far more political, with
songs about abortion, 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 New Album. Other singles
included "A Change Would Do You Good", "Home" and
"Everyday is a Winding Road". She produced the album
herself to quiet critics that had accused her of being a
no-talent self promoter on her first album. This album
was banned at Walmart because Crow was critical of their
policy of selling guns to minors.
In 1997 Crow contributed the theme song to the James
Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. The song of the same
title was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Song
Written Specifically For a Motion Picture or Television.
In 1998 Crow released a third album, called The Globe
Sessions. She discussed in press interviews having gone
through a deep depression, and had a highly publicized
relationship with music legend
Eric Clapton.
The debut single from this album, "My Favorite Mistake",
was rumored 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 Sheryl 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 Stevie Nicks, the Dixie
Chicks, and Eric Clapton.
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. 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.
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 for the victims of September
11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. 2002 also found Crow
collaborating with Stevie Nicks, and releasing a
successful single called "Picture" with rumored
boyfriend Kid Rock. Later Crow said they were good
friends.
Sheryl 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.
Her public stance attracted so many supporters of the
war to her website that the message board was closed for
a number of days.
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" (a song
originally composed and performed by cat Stevens), which
became her biggest radio hit since her first, "All I
Wanna Do," which hit #2 in 1994.
2004 saw Sheryl Crow appear as a musical theater
performer in the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely. Her
performance within the film of the Porter classic "Begin
the Beguine" was critically panned by film reviewers.
Sheryl 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. Nearly five months later, 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."
Sheryl 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).
Her album Wildflower, which had a more slow paced feel
than her previous albums, was released in September of
2005. Although the album debuted at #2, it received
mixed reviews and was not as commercially successful as
hoped. In December of 2005, however, 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 song "Good is Good."
Crow was diagnosed with breast cancer in late February
2006. Her doctors have stated that "prognosis for a full
recovery is excellent."