Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Suzanne Crow was born in Kennett, Missouri, and grew up in a musical household. Her mother played piano and her father played trumpet in jazz bands. Crow began playing piano at age five, learned to play by ear by age six, composed her first song at 13, and learned guitar while performing with local rock bands in high school.

Crow attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, where she studied music composition, performance, and teaching. She performed with the local band Cashmere and graduated in 1984. After college, she taught music to children with special needs at an elementary school in St. Louis before pursuing music professionally.

Crow moved to Los Angeles in 1986 to pursue a career in music. She recorded advertising jingles for clients including McDonald's and Toyota before being selected through a video audition to sing on Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour. She toured with Jackson for two years and continued writing songs during that period.

As a backing vocalist, Crow worked with performers including Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Sting, Foreigner, and Don Henley. She also recorded background vocals for artists such as Belinda Carlisle, Jimmy Buffett, Kevin Gilbert, and Don Henley. Henley encouraged her to perform her own music, while Crow's earlier songwriting was recorded by artists including Wynonna Judd and Eric Clapton.

Crow's debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club, was released in 1993 after an earlier album recorded for A&M Records was shelved because she considered it too polished. She began attending songwriting sessions with a group that became known as the Tuesday Music Club. The collective included Kevin Gilbert, Bill Bottrell, David Baerwald, and David Ricketts, among others, and produced several of the songs associated with Crow's debut.

The album initially developed gradually, but "All I Wanna Do" became a major hit in 1994. "Strong Enough" and "Can't Cry Anymore" followed, and Tuesday Night Music Club became a multi-platinum success. Crow won three Grammy Awards in 1995 for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Crow's second album, Sheryl Crow, arrived in 1996. She produced the album herself and played several instruments on it. The single "If It Makes You Happy" became one of her signature songs and earned her Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. The album also attracted attention when Walmart declined to sell it because of the lyrics to "Love Is a Good Thing."

Her third album, The Globe Sessions, was released in 1998 and won the Grammy for Best Rock Album. Its single "There Goes the Neighborhood" won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, while Crow's cover of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" earned the same award in 2000. C'mon, C'mon followed in 2002 and included "Soak Up the Sun" and the Grammy-winning song "Steve McQueen."

Crow released Wildflower in 2005, Detours in 2008, and 100 Miles from Memphis in 2010. Wildflower took an introspective approach, while Detours combined socially conscious material with personal themes. 100 Miles from Memphis moved toward a Memphis soul sound and included contributions from musicians such as Keith Richards and Justin Timberlake. Crow also contributed "Real Gone" to the soundtrack of Pixar's Cars.

Her first country music project, Feels Like Home, was released in 2013 after she signed with Warner Music Nashville. The album reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200, and Crow later returned to a rock-oriented sound with Be Myself in 2017. Her 2019 album Threads featured artists including Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Sting, and Keith Richards. Although Crow described Threads as her final album, she released Evolution in 2024.

Crow has also worked in film and television. She appeared in The Minus Man and De-Lovely, contributed music to films including Tomorrow Never Dies and Cars, and made appearances in programs such as 30 Rock, Cougar Town, One Tree Hill, and NCIS: New Orleans. Her career documentary, Sheryl, directed by Amy Scott, premiered in 2022.

Crow has used her music to support environmental, health, humanitarian, and political causes. She took part in the Stop Global Warming College Tour in 2007, performed at the Live Earth concerts, and supported Rock the Vote's youth registration drive by giving away digital copies of Detours. She endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election and performed at the Democratic National Convention.

Crow has supported organizations including the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the World Food Program, Feeding America, MusiCares, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the Scleroderma Research Foundation. She was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, a non-invasive form of breast cancer, in 2006 and underwent a lumpectomy followed by seven weeks of radiation treatment. In 2011, she was diagnosed with a meningioma, for which she continued to receive follow-up examinations.

Crow dated actor Owen Wilson and musician Eric Clapton during the 1990s. She began dating cyclist Lance Armstrong in 2003, and they became engaged in 2005 before ending their relationship in early 2006. The song "Safe and Sound" from C'mon, C'mon was dedicated to Wilson in the album's liner notes.

Crow adopted her son Wyatt in 2007 and her son Levi in 2010. She and her sons live in West Nashville, Tennessee. Crow has also spoken publicly about her close friendship and occasional musical collaborations with Stevie Nicks.