Sheryl Crow was born on February 11, 1962 in Kennett, Missouri, USA. Kennett is a rural town located not very far from Memphis, Tennessee. Growing up, Crow’s father was a lawyer who actively defended Civil Rights. He was noted for prosecuting the Ku Klux Klan for attempting to rig ballots for an election. At six years old, Crow began to learn the piano. Crow grew up listening to and being influenced by music. Her mother and father played in a swing band along with their good friend, Leo. Crow’s mother sand and her father played the trumpet. Unfortunately, Leo had a sudden death. After Leo’s death, Crow’s father put his trumpet away and never played again. He did, however, pick his trumpet up and record a song dedicated to Leo years later. This single, which appeared on one of Crow’s albums, was entitled “We Do What We Can.” While growing up, Crow’s parents often listened to The Beatles, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, and The Rolling Stones. After high school, Crow moved to St. Louis in order to attend Missouri State University in order to attain a degree in classical music. While attending school, she sang in a band called Kashmir.
In 1986, after a devastating breakup with her boyfriend, Crow moved to Los Angeles, California in hopes to pursue a music career. She had $10,000.00 saved. After only being there for eighteen months, she landed a job as a backup singer on Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour. Three nights a week while on tour, she did a duet with Jackson entitled, “I Just can’t Stop Loving You.” This earned her a lot of attention. When she returned to L.A. she had a lot of people interested in her. The only problem was, executives wanted Crow to be a pop singer. She refused. Eventually, Crow would work with great artists such as: Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, George Harrison, Don Henley, and Sinead O’Connor.
Crow had a strike of luck when Sting’s producer, Hugh Podgham, saw talent in her. He convinced A&M Records to sign her. The two then began dating. Crow then spent over $250,000.00 on her recording debut. Sadly, after the album was finished, Crow was unhappy with it. She felt it was too polished and seemed to manipulated with. She decided she would have to start over. Luckily, A&M Records realized Crow had talent, and decided to keep her on the label. Crow then began meeting other musicians at Toad hall, a Pasadena based recording studio, owned by producer Bill Bottrell. Every week, Crow would ‘jam’ with other musicians.
Crow’s debut album entitled, Tuesday Night Music Club, was released in 1993. At first, the album received almost no recognition. The singles, “Rub, Baby, Run” and ‘Leaving Las Vegas,” did not do so well. The latter reached the United States top 50. Crow realized the album was not reaching the commercial success she had hoped for, and began thinking of ideas for her next album. Executives at A&M, however, had other ideas. They convinced the artist to release the single, “All I Wanna Do.” The single, which was a major hit of 1994, reached number two in the US and number 4 in the UK. The single alone, made the album go multi-platinum. The song, which is about a couple of friends who are drunk and looking for fun, is based on a poem by Wyn Cooper about a Santa Monica Bar. Crow then released, “Strong Enough.” The song is about PMS. The next single released off the album was “What Can I Do For You.” The song is about going through casting calls in LA, hoping to receive a recording contract.
In November 1994, Crow did a duet with Mick Jagger, “Under My thumb,” in front of 65,000 people at a Rolling Stones concert in Miami, Florida. Earlier that year, Crow had been only one of two female artists to perform at Woodstock II where she played in front of 300,000 people.
In 1995, Crow opened for The Eagles on their comeback tour. She also began her own headlining tour. She then toured with Joe Cocker.
At the end of 1996, Sheryl Crow released a self-titled album. The album won her a Grammy for Best Rock Album at the February 1997 Grammy Awards. The only problem was that people became sick of the singles because radios were continuously overplaying the songs: “If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday Is A Winding Road,” and “A Change (Will Do You Good).” There was also controversy to this album when Wal-Mart refused to carry the album due to the content of one song: “Watch out sister/watch out brother/watch out children kill each other/with a gun they bought at a Wal-Mart discount store.”
During the years of 1997-1998, Crow constantly toured. She was an opening act for The Rolling Stones Bridges to Babylon Tour.
In the Fall of 1998, Crow released The Globe Sessions. The album received a Grammy for Best Rock album. Hit songs for the album were “My Favorite Mistake” and “Anywhere But Down.” She also performed on the Lilith Fair.
In 1999, Crow released Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live From Central Park. The album featured Keith Richards, The Dixie Chicks, and Eric Clapton. This also became a hard time for Crow to find inspiration in new music. She was having a mental block, and was also suffering from personal sickness (breast Cancer). She found support and inspiration, however, from fellow rockers Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde. In 2002, Crow released C’Mon, C’Mon.
In December 2003, Crow’s single, “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” was in the top ten on the Billboard charts.
Bio written by: isound |
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