Sheryl Crow

Crow was born on February 11, 1962, in Kennett, Missouri, the daughter of Bernice (née Cain), a piano teacher, and Wendell Wyatt Crow, a lawyer and trumpet player.

Studying at Kennett High School, Crow was a majorette and an all-state track athlete, winning medals in the 75-meter low hurdles. She also joined the pep club, the National Honor Society, and the National FFA Organization.

She then enrolled at the University of Missouri in Columbia and in 1984 received a BS Ed degree in music education. While at the university, she sang in the local band Cashmere.

Crow worked as a music teacher at Kellison Elementary School in Fenton, Missouri. Teaching during the day gave her the opportunity to sing in bands on the weekends. She was later introduced to local musician and record producer Jay Oliver who hired her to sing on advertising jingles. She sang in commercial jingles for McDonald’s and Toyota.

While recording backups on a Johnny Mathis record, Sheryl overheard some of the other singers talking about auditioning for Michael Jackson as one of his background singers. Crow said: “I just found out where it was and I went. I go in, I sign a clipboard, they don’t ask me anything.” Sheryl was asked to stand in front of a camera and introduce herself to Michael on tape. “I looked in the camera, I said, ‘Hey Michael, my name’s Sheryl Crow. I just moved here six months ago, I’m a singer, I’d love to go on the road with you,’ and that was it. And then they called me back and then they put me with three singers. I hadn’t even sung yet. We did like 30 days of rehearsal and then, wham bam, we’re in front of 65,000 in Tokyo,” Sheryl said. “It was unbelievable when I think about it. I didn’t even own a passport.”

Crow toured with Michael Jackson as a backing vocalist during his Bad World Tour 1987–1989, and often performed with Jackson on “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”. During this period she also recorded background vocals for Stevie Wonder, Belinda Carlisle, Jimmy Buffett and Don Henley.

On working with ‘The King of Pop’ Crow got some stellar schooling for solo stardom: “I loved watching Michael in his brilliance,” she says. “For me, the experience was life-changing. I learned a lot, and I feel extremely blessed to have gotten to be a part of that.”

In the early 90’s Crow began dating Kevin Gilbert and joined him in an ad hoc group of musicians known to themselves as the “Tuesday Music Club”. The group existed as a casual songwriting collective prior to its association with Crow, but rapidly developed into a vehicle for her debut album.

“All I Wanna Do” was Crow’s breakthrough hit and is Crow’s biggest US hit, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks from October 8 to November 12, 1994 as well as number one in Australia and topped the charts in Canada for four weeks. It was the winner of the 1995 Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and was nominated for Song of the Year.

Her self-titled second album features the single, “If It Makes You Happy”, which became a radio success and netted her two Grammys for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Album at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997.

In 1999, Crow made her acting debut as an ill-fated drifter in the suspense/drama The Minus Man, which starred her then-boyfriend Owen Wilson as a serial killer.

Prince covered Crow’s 1996 single “Everyday Is a Winding Road” on his 1999 album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. Crow wrote the song about Crowded House drummer Paul Hester who committed suicide shortly after Sheryl and her band started opening for them on tour.

Crow has appeared singing backing vocals on many albums including Johnny Cash (American III: Solitary Man), Willie Nelson (The Great Divide), Dixie Chicks (Landslide) as well as appearing with artists such as Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Barry Gibb, Fleetwood Mac, Phil Collins and Bob Dylan.

Her fourth studio album, C’mon, C’mon, was released in 2002, spawning the hit single “Soak Up the Sun”. The second single, “Steve McQueen”, won the Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards in 2003.

She recorded the song “Kiss That Girl” for the film Bridget Jones’s Diary. She also recorded a cover version of the Beatles‘ song “Mother Nature’s Son” for the film I Am Sam and covered the George Harrison song “Here Comes the Sun” on the soundtrack for the DreamWorks animated film Bee Movie in November 2007.

Crow made an appearance at the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, paying tribute to Linda Ronstadt, who was one of the inductees.

Celine Dion, Tina Turner and Wynonna Judd have all covered songs written by Crow.

Crow has released 12 studio albums, eight of which reached the top 10 on the US chart and has sold over 50 million albums worldwide.

Crow has been feted by a new generation of singer-songwriters who have covered her songs and talked about her influence, including Olivia Rodrigo, H.E.R, Haim, Maren Morris, Lorde, Sasami, Best Coast and Brandi Carlile.