Sheryl Crow Biography

Sheryl’s full name is Sheryl Suzanne Crow. She was born on February 11, 1963 in Missouri near Memphis, Tennessee. Her father Wendell was an attorney and trumpet player. Her mother, Bernice Crow was a piano teacher. Her family was very musical and owned three pianos. She was the third child. Her siblings were older sisters Karen and Kathy and younger brother Steve. She attended Kennett High School in Kennett, Missouri. She learned to play the piano by the age of six. She wrote her first song at the age of thirteen. Sheryl graduated from Kennett High School in 1989. In 1984, she graduated from the University of Missouri where she majored in music education with a concentration in piano. While attending the college, she sang in the local band Cashmere. Following college, she worked as a music teacher at the Kellison Elementary School in Fenton, Missouri. She sang in bands on weekends. After a couple of years of teaching, Sheryl met a local producer who helped her get work singing commercial jingles. Her success at this convinced her that she should move to Los Angeles and pursue a career in singing.

At the age of 23, she moved to Los Angeles and began a career as a backup singer for artistes like Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Don Henley and George Harrison. Sheryl started recording jingles for advertising clients including McDonald's and Toyota. She was a backup singer for Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ world tour for eighteen months. In 1991, she recorded an album for A&M Records, which was shelved. She began playing for the band ‘The Tuesday Music Club’ made up of Sheryl’s then boyfriend Kevin Gilbert, Dan Schwartz, Brian MacLeod, Bill Bottrell, David Ricketts and David Baerwald. In 1993 the band released the multi-platinum album ‘Tuesday Night Music Club’. It included the smash hit ‘All I Wanna Do’. The inspiration and lyrics for ‘All I Wanna Do’ came from Wyne Cooper's poem ‘Fun’. In 1995, Sheryl won three Grammy awards for - Record of the Year (for ‘All I Wanna Do’), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist for ‘Tuesday Night Music Club’. She released the album ‘Sheryl Crow’ in 1996, winning two Grammy awards for Best Rock Album and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

In 1997, Sheryl contributed to the theme song of the James Bond film ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. Sheryl released her third album ‘The Globe Sessions’ in the fall of 1998, which won a Grammy for Best Rock Album. During 1999, Sheryl performed in Europe and toured with Lilith Fair throughout the United States. At the Grammy Awards in February 2000, Sheryl won for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, for her rendition of the Guns 'n Roses hit ‘Sweet Child o' Mine’. In 2001, she received an honorary doctoral degree from Southeast Missouri State University. In September 2001, she performed ‘Safe and Sound’ for a landmark fundraiser aired by all the major networks to raise money for families of the victims of ‘9/11’. In 2004, she began touring as part of the ‘Vote For Change’ Tour for the forthcoming US Presidential elections. In 2005 she performed in ‘Shelter From The Storm: A Concert For The Gulf Coast’, a benefit program shown on all the major TV networks simultaneously for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. She was engaged with cycling champion Lance Armstrong in August 2005. She split with Lance Armstrong on February 3, 2006. She appeared on Larry King Live on CNN on August 23, 2006. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2006. In 2007, she released ‘Hits and Rarities’ overseas. In May 2007, she adopted a baby boy. In 2008, she released her latest A&M/Interscope album ‘Detours’.