Jewel Kilcher (born May 23, 1974), professionally known as
Jewel, is an American
singer-songwriterA singer–songwriter is a musician who writes, composes and sings their own material including lyrics and melodies. They often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano...
,
guitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as acoustic guitars, electric guitars, classical guitars and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :...
,
actressAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. She has received three
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
nominations and has sold twenty-seven million albums worldwide, and almost twenty million in the United States alone.
Kilcher debuted on February 28, 1995, with the album,
Pieces of YouPieces of You is the debut album by singer/songwriter Jewel, released in 1995 . Though it made little impact initially, "Who Will Save Your Soul" eventually received airplay and the album sold over 12 million copies in the USA, making it one of the best selling debut albums ever...
, which became one of the best selling debut albums of all time, going platinum twelve times.
I think each person knows what's good for them. I don't think you need to be drastic. But it's finding where's passion in your life. We can't live without dreams.
The Late Late Show (24 January 1997)
Cynicism isn't smarter, it's only safer. There's nothing fluffy about optimism. ... People have the idea that optimism is fluffy, like you're going to have all these people like walking around in hippy clothing and utopia. No it's very practical. It's just a matter of people being more fulfilled and more whole as human beings.
The Late Late Show (24 January 1997)
I'd sit on logs like pulpits listen to the sermon of sparrows and find god in Simplicity, there amongst the dandelion and thorn
"As a Child I Walked"
the greatest Grace we can aspire to is the strength to see the wounded walk with the forgotten and pull ourselves from the screaming blood of our losses to fight on undaunted all the more
"I Say to You Idols"
Jewel Kilcher (born May 23, 1974), professionally known as
Jewel, is an American
singer-songwriterA singer–songwriter is a musician who writes, composes and sings their own material including lyrics and melodies. They often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano...
,
guitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as acoustic guitars, electric guitars, classical guitars and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :...
,
actressAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. She has received three
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
nominations and has sold twenty-seven million albums worldwide, and almost twenty million in the United States alone.
Kilcher debuted on February 28, 1995, with the album,
Pieces of YouPieces of You is the debut album by singer/songwriter Jewel, released in 1995 . Though it made little impact initially, "Who Will Save Your Soul" eventually received airplay and the album sold over 12 million copies in the USA, making it one of the best selling debut albums ever...
, which became one of the best selling debut albums of all time, going platinum twelve times. One single from the album, "
Who Will Save Your Soul"Who Will Save Your Soul" is a folk pop song written by Jewel Kilcher, and was the first song released from her first album Pieces of You.-About the record:Jewel explained her creative process for "Who Will Save Your Soul" in an interview....
", peaked at #11 on Billboard's Hot 100; two others, "
You Were Meant for Me"You Were Meant for Me" is a folk pop song written by Jewel and Steve Poltz and performed by Jewel on her first album, Pieces of You. It relates the singer's incomprehension of a failed relationship, and her inadequate attempts at moving on with her life. It was the second single from that album...
" and "
Foolish Games"Foolish Games" is a song by Jewel released as her third/fourth and final single, taken from her debut album Pieces of You. It was also the third single to be lifted from the Batman & Robin motion picture soundtrack...
", each reached #2 and were included in Billboard's
1997 year-end singles chartThis is a list of Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1997.-See also:*1997 in music*Hot 100 number-one hits of 1997 *List of number-one hits -References:...
. During her career, she has released several albums, frequently switching genres between working on her albums.
Perfectly ClearPerfectly Clear is the sixth album recorded by American singer Jewel. Her first album of country music, it was released on Valory Records on June 3, 2008 . The album is composed of a mixture of new and old fan-favorite songs, although only one of the songs had previously appeared on one of her...
, her first country record, was released on The Valory Music Co. in 2008. It debuted at #1 on the U.S.
Billboard Top Country Albums chart and featured three singles, "
Stronger Woman"Stronger Woman" is the title of a song written by Marv Green and co-written and recorded by American recording artist Jewel. Her first release to country radio, it is also the first single from her album Perfectly Clear, which was produced by John Rich of the country duo Big & Rich and released on...
", "
I Do"I Do" is a song written by Brian Wilson. Wilson originally produced a version for The Castells. But that record, released through Warner Brothers, never charted. The Beach Boys version of the song was first released on the Surfer Girl/Shut Down Volume 2 two-LP-on-one-CD format...
", and "Til It Feels Like Cheating". Jewel released her first independent album
LullabyLullaby is the seventh studio album by American country/pop singer-songwriter Jewel, released in the United States on May 5, 2009 by Fisher Price Records...
in May 2009.
Early years
Jewel was born in
PaysonPayson is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 12,716 at the 2000 census...
,
UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
. Shortly after birth her family moved to
HomerHomer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population was 5,364. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road"...
,
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. Her mother Lenedra J. Carroll is of
IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The Irish...
descent and her father is of Swiss-
GermanThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
origin (his father was a Swiss immigrant). She is the cousin of actress
Q'Orianka KilcherQ'orianka Waira Qoiana Kilcher is an American actress and singer, of Indigenous Quechua and Swiss heritage. She is best known for her role as Pocahontas in the 2005 film The New World.-Early life:...
. She spent most of her young life in Homer, living with her father, Atz Kilcher. The home she grew up in did not have indoor plumbing; it had a simple
outhouseAn outhouse is a type of toilet in a small structure separate from the main building which does not have a flush and is not attached to a sewer.- Terminology :...
instead. She and her father sometimes earned a living by singing in
barA bar is an establishment that serves drinks, especially alcoholic beverages such as beer, liquor, and cocktails, for consumption on the premises....
s and taverns. It was from these experiences she learned to
yodelYodeling is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal or chest register to the falsetto/head register; making a high-low-high-low sound...
, a quality demonstrated in many of her songs. Her father was a
Mormon