Sheryl Crow

Her great-grandfather was congressman Charles A. Crow (1873–1938).

She has two older sisters, Kathy and Karen, and a younger brother, Steven.

While 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, and was crowned Paperdoll Queen in a celebrity-judged beauty contest during her senior year.

Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter.

Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues.

She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations, and three live albums, and contributed to several film soundtracks.

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.

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.

She was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity for Women, and the Omicron Delta Kappa Society, as well as working as a summer welcome orientation leader.

After graduating from the University of Missouri, 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.

He had a studio in the basement of his parents' home in St. Louis and helped her by using her in advertising jingles.

Her first jingle was a back-to-school spot for the St. Louis department store Famous-Barr.

Soon after, she sang in commercial jingles for McDonald's and Toyota.

She was quoted in a 60 Minutes segment as saying she made $40,000 on the McDonald's ad alone.

Crow toured with Michael Jackson as a backing vocalist during his Bad tour 1987–1989, and often performed with Jackson on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".

She also recorded background vocals for Stevie Wonder, Belinda Carlisle, Jimmy Buffett, Kevin Gilbert and Don Henley.

In 1989, Crow contributed backing vocals to the Neal Schon track "Smoke of the Revolution" from his album Late Nite.

Crow also sang in the short-lived Steven Bochco drama Cop Rock series finale in 1990 and her song "Heal Somebody" appeared in the film Bright Angel.

In 1991, her recording of "Welcome to the Real Life" featured on the soundtrack to the Brian Bosworth action film Stone Cold.

Later that year, her performance of "Hundreds of Tears" was included on the Point Break soundtrack and she sang a duet with Kenny Loggins on the track "I Would Do Anything", from his album Leap of Faith.

In 1992, Crow recorded her first attempt at a debut album with Sting's record producer Hugh Padgham.

The self-titled debut album was due to be released in September 1992, but Crow and her label mutually decided that the album did not merit release.

Crow described it as "too produced" and "slick".

However, a handful of cassette copies of the album were leaked, along with press folders for album publicity.

This album has been widely dispersed via file sharing networks and fan trading.

In the meantime, Crow's songs were recorded by major artists such as Celine Dion, Tina Turner and Wynonna Judd.

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 after her arrival.

Group members Gilbert, David Baerwald, and David Ricketts (both formerly of David & David), Bill Bottrell, Brian MacLeod, and Dan Schwartz share songwriting credits with Crow on her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club, released in 1993.

Her relationship with Gilbert became acrimonious soon after the album was released, and disputes arose about songwriting credits.

Tuesday Night Music Club featured many of the songs written by Crow's friends, including the second single, "Leaving Las Vegas".

Her most popular songs include "All I Wanna Do" (1994), "Strong Enough" (1994), "If It Makes You Happy" (1996), "Everyday Is a Winding Road" (1996), "My Favorite Mistake" (1998), "Picture" (2002, duet with Kid Rock), and "Soak Up the Sun" (2002).

Crow has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and won nine Grammy Awards (out of 32 nominations) from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

As an actress, Crow has appeared on the television series 30 Rock, Cop Rock, GCB, Cougar Town, Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, One Tree Hill, and NCIS: New Orleans.

Crow was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.

The album was slow to garner attention, until "All I Wanna Do" became an unexpected smash hit in October 1994.