Jewel Kilcher (born May 23, 1974),[3] professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress, and author/poet. She has received four Grammy Award nominations and, as of 2008, has sold over 27 million albums worldwide.[4]
Jewel's debut album, Pieces of You,
released on February 28, 1995, became one of the best-selling debut
albums of all time, going 15 times platinum. One single from the album, "Who Will Save Your Soul", peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100; two others, "You Were Meant for Me" and "Foolish Games", reached number seven and two respectively on the Hot 100, and were listed on Billboard 's 1997 year-end singles chart, as well as Billboard 's 1998 year-end singles chart. She has crossed several genres throughout her career. Perfectly Clear, her first country album, was released on The Valory Music Co. in 2008. It debuted atop Billboard 's Top Country Albums chart and featured three singles, "Stronger Woman", "I Do", and "Til It Feels Like Cheating". Jewel released her first independent album Lullaby in May 2009.
Jewel was the co-host, as well as a judge, with Kara DioGuardi on the songwriting competition reality television series Platinum Hit, which premiered May 29, 2011 on the cable network Bravo. Jewel has the vocal range of a lyric soprano.[5] On July 2, 2013, NBC announced that Jewel would be a judge on the fourth season of the a cappella competition The Sing-Off.[6] Jewel's songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing.
Early life, education and career beginnings
Jewel was born in Payson, Utah, but was raised in Homer, Alaska, which is where her grandfather Yule Kilcher, a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention and a state senator,[7] had settled after emigrating from Switzerland.[8][9] Yule also made the first recorded crossing of the Harding Icefield.[10] Jewel is the daughter of Lenedra Jewel (Carroll) and Attila Kuno "Atz" Kilcher.[11] She is a first cousin once removed of actress Q'orianka Kilcher.[12]
Jewel spent most of her young life in Homer living with her father.[13] The home she grew up in did not have indoor plumbing; it had a simple outhouse instead.[14] The Kilcher family is featured on the Discovery Channel show Alaska: The Last Frontier,
which chronicles their day-to-day struggles living in the Alaskan
wilderness. Jewel and her father sometimes earned a living by singing in
bars and taverns. It was from these experiences she learned to yodel as demonstrated in many of her songs. Her father was a Mormon, but they stopped attending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shortly before she turned eight.[15]
Jewel learned to play the guitar while at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, where she majored in operatic voice. She started writing songs at the age of 16.[16] While at school, she would sometimes play at Ray's Coffee House in Traverse City, Michigan.
For a time, Jewel lived in her car while traveling around the country doing street performances and small gigs.[17] She gained some recognition by singing at the Inner Change Coffeehouse and Java Joe's in San Diego, California.[18] (Jewel made her debut at Java Joe's when it was in Poway, where she was a barista.) Her friend Steve Poltz's band, The Rugburns, played the same venues.[19] Jewel later collaborated with Poltz on some of her songs, including "You Were Meant for Me"
(he also appeared in the second, better-known video for this song). The
Rugburns opened for Jewel on her Tiny Lights tour in 1997. Poltz
appeared in Jewel's band on the Spirit World Tour 1999 playing guitar.[20]
Music career
Early
Jewel was discovered in August 1994 while playing a local weekly gig
at the Interchange Coffee House in San Diego by Inga Vainshtein, a
former VP of Production at Paramount Pictures. Vainshtein subsequently
became her manager. Vainshtein's client, John Hogan, the lead singer for
Rust, suggested she check out a local surfer girl, who was packing in
crowds at a local coffee shop in Pacific Beach every Thursday.
Vainshtein asked Jenny Price, who was an assistant to Rust's A&R at
Atlantic Records and a friend to come along. After the show Vainshtein
approached Jewel and asked her for a demo. Jewel, who at the time was
living in a van, didn't have a recorded demo. Vainshtein offered to
help. Vainshtein and Price called Danny Goldberg (then President of
Atlantic) and told him about Jewel, but when Goldberg asked for a demo,
Vainshtein suggested he offer to pay for it, if he wanted to hear it,
since Jewel didn't have the means to pay for it. Goldberg agreed to
finance the demo, and suggested The Robb Brothers, who had just finished
producing The Lemonheads for Atlantic. Over the next two months,
Vainstein introduced Jewel to the people that are still part of her team
- Brian Loucks, a music agent at CAA, who still represents her, and her
attorney, Eric Greenspan. Vainshtein began to manage Jewel and shopped
the demo to multiple major labels creating a major bidding war. In the
end, Goldberg paying for the demo paid off; Jewel decided to sign with
Atlantic Records in March of 1994.
Pieces of You received favorable reviews but did not sell well
initially. It was produced by Ben Keith, who was noted for his work with
Neil Young and James Taylor, and it featured Neil Young's band the
Stray Gators. Jewel toured and opened for other bands around the
country. But it took 14 months for her debut release to reach the
Billboard Top 200. Between 1996 and 1998 she appeared on The Tonight
Show with Jay Leno, Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien,
The David Letterman Show, and Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. The single
"Who Will Save Your Soul" peaked at number eleven on the Billboard
singles chart in September of 1996, and "You Were Meant For Me" was then
re-released in 1996. Jewel performed at the Lilith Fair in July of
1997, generating favorable publicity and reviews. When Time Magazine was
doing a piece on Lilith Fair, Vainshtein lobbied her friend Jeff
Ressner, West Coast's head of Time inc. to put Jewel on the cover alone.
This marked only the 5th time Time had a musician on its cover. By the
end of 1997 "You Were Meant for Me" had set a record for the longest
charting single on the Billboard Hot 100—over 60 weeks. In addition,
Pieces of You became the second most popular album of 1997, selling over
4.3 million copies and going platinum more than eight times in the
United States. By the end of 1997 Jewel had attained superstar status.
The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for two years, reaching number
four at its peak.[24] The album spawned the popular hits "You Were Meant
for Me", "Who Will Save Your Soul", and "Foolish Games". The album
eventually sold more than 12 million copies in the United States
alone.[citation needed]
Spirit and This Way
Jewel was chosen to sing the American national anthem at the opening of the Super Bowl XXXII in January 1998 in San Diego. She was introduced as "San Diego's own Jewel!". However, she was criticized for lip syncing
the anthem to a digitally recorded track of her own voice. This was
especially noticeable due to her missing her cue and not mouthing the
first words. Super Bowl producers have since admitted that they attempt
to have all performers pre-record their vocals.[21] She performed the "Star-Spangled Banner" again in the 2003 NBA Finals in one of the New Jersey Nets' home games.
Jewel parted ways with her original manager, Inga Vainshtein, in
February 1998. At the time she was in talks with Daniel Lanois about
producing what would have become her second album. However, upon letting
Vainshtein go and handing her career management to her mother, she
abruptly changed creative direction. Instead of Lanois, she ended up
going with Patrick Leonard, who created a much more pop album.[citation needed] Many believe that going in a more pop direction alienated her core fan base, resulting in much lower sales. Spirit was released in November 1998. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than 4 million copies in the United States.[citation needed] The song "Hands"
hit No. 6 on the Hot 100. Other singles followed, including a new
version of "Jupiter (Swallow the Moon)", "What's Simple Is True" (the
theme song to her upcoming movie), and the charity single "Life
Uncommon".[22]
A year later, in November 1999, Jewel released Joy: A Holiday Collection. The album sold over a million copies and peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard 200. She released a cover of "Joy to the World" from the album as a single.[23]
In November 2001 the album This Way was released. The album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. A song from the album "Standing Still"
hit the Top 30. Other singles released were "Break Me", "This Way", and
"Serve the Ego", the latter giving Jewel her first number one club hit.[24]
0304
In 2003 Jewel released the album 0304. Following the limited success of "Serve the Ego", Jewel moved to a more pop-oriented sound with the release of the single "Intuition". The song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart and No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.[25]
Goodbye Alice in Wonderland
On May 2, 2006 Jewel released her sixth album Goodbye Alice in Wonderland.
The album received mixed reviews, but still managed to debut at No. 8
on the Billboard Albums Chart and sold 82,000 copies in its first week.[26] The lead single "Again and Again" had success on Adult Top 40 Radio, peaking at No. 16.[27]
The second single "Good Day" was released to radio in late June and
peaked at No. 30 on the Adult Pop Songs charts. A video for
"Stephenville, TX", her next single, was seen on Yahoo! Launch.[28] After a photo shoot at her Texas ranch, Jewel spontaneously decided to have photographer Kurt Markus
shoot the music video for the song "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland".
According to an Atlantic Records press release, "The homegrown clip
beautifully reflects both the song's organic, intimate sound and its
powerfully autobiographical story."[29]
As of December 2006 the album had barely sold over 270,000 copies,
making it the first Jewel album not to quickly achieve Gold
certification. CMT music critic Timothy Duggan praised the album: "This
album showcases Jewel's unique talent as a lyricist, alongside a
definite growth in her musicianship. It is what Pieces of You might have been had Jewel had the musical knowledge then that she has now. A very satisfying work, all in all."[30] Rolling Stone, however, called the album "overdone and undercooked" with a rating of 2 stars out of 5.[31] Up to now, the album has only sold over 377,000 copies.
Arthur and the Invisibles
Jewel released a video for the new song "Quest for Love" as the lead single from the movie Arthur and the Invisibles. The song is only available on the soundtrack for the film, which was released in January 2007.[32]
Perfectly Clear
In early February 2007 Jewel recorded a duet with Jason Michael Carroll, "No Good in Goodbye", that was featured on Carroll's debut CD, Waitin' in the Country. She also made a promotional appearance on the T in Boston for the Verizon Yellow Pages, playing songs on a moving subway car and then doing an hour-long acoustic concert in South Station.
In a 2007 interview with The Boston Globe, Jewel stated that she was no longer affiliated with a record label, confirming rumors that Atlantic Records
had failed to renew her contract after the lackluster sales of her
then-latest album. She also hinted that she would like to do a country
album next.[33] She worked with John Rich of Big & Rich
fame, who said that she was "probably one of the greatest American
singer-songwriters we have had." He also said that "every label in
Nashville" was talking to her at the time.[34]
In November 2007 Jewel was signed to Valory Records, a newly formed division of the independent Big Machine Records label.[35] Her first country album, Perfectly Clear,
was released on June 3, 2008, selling 48,000 units in its first week.
It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Album Chart and No. 8 on
the Billboard 200 Album Chart.[36]
In its second week on the charts, the album dropped to No. 25 on the
Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the Country Albums chart, with estimated
second week sales of 75,000 units.
Its lead single, "Stronger Woman", was released to country radio on January 17, 2008, and entered the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs
charts. On the April 26, 2008 country charts it peaked at No. 13. The
next single, "I Do", was released to radio on June 23, 2008. The video
for the single featured her cowboy husband, Ty Murray. This song peaked at No. 28. Following it was "Till It Feels Like Cheating", which peaked at No. 57.
Perfectly Clear was released in Australia in late May 2009. It was then released across Europe by Humphead Records in June 2009.
Lullaby
In early 2009 it was announced that Jewel would release a new studio album titled Lullaby, a collection of lullabies which she described as "not just for children, but also adults". Its lead single, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow",
was released on iTunes on March 17, 2009. The album was released on May
5, 2009. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was No. 1 on The Top Children's
Songs the week of release. Like 2011's The Merry Goes 'Round, it is sold under the Fisher Price brand[37] which Jewel described as "a great partnership".[38]
She also recorded a duet, "Make It Last", with R&B singer Tyrese in conjunction with the release of his comic book Mayhem!. It was intended to be used for the soundtrack to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but did not appear on the final tracklisting.[39]
Sweet and Wild
In January 2010 Jewel released "Stay Here Forever" from the soundtrack to the film Valentine's Day. It also served as the lead-off single to Jewel's ninth studio album Sweet and Wild released on June 8, 2010.[40] The single debuted at No. 48 on the Hot Country Songs chart and reached No. 34 in May 2010. "Satisfied"
was released as the album's second single on May 17, 2010, reaching its
highest peak of No. 57. On October 10, 2010 Jewel released the third
single from Sweet and Wild, "Ten".
It made its debut on the Hot Country Songs Chart at No. 55 on the week
of October 15, 2010 and peaked at No. 51 two weeks later.
The Merry Goes 'Round
Jewel's second children's album, The Merry Goes 'Round, was released in August 2011.[41] Like 2009's Lullaby, it is sold under the Fisher-Price brand.[42]
Greatest Hits
On October 16, 2012 Jewel announced via Twitter a Greatest Hits album would be released in 2013.[43] The album features new duets from Kelly Clarkson and the Pistol Annies. Jewel and Clarkson recorded a fresh rendition of Jewel's song "Foolish Games" while Jewel and the Pistol Annies recut "You Were Meant for Me".[44] The Greatest Hits album was released February 5, 2013.
Let It Snow: A Holiday Collection
On August 6, 2013, Jewel announced the release of her second Christmas album, titled Let It Snow: A Holiday Collection, scheduled for release on November 12, 2013. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal,
Jewel was quoted as saying “I wanted this record to have a resemblance
to the first album. It’s a continuation of mood and spirit of that
record, with the mood and feel of the album artwork with an image and
tone that evokes that spirit.”[45]
New Album
As of February 2014, Jewel has begun work on her next album and has
confirmed that it will not be released by a major record label, and that
she will be producing it herself.[46] It will reportedly have a sound similar to Pieces of You.
Musical equipment and technique
Owning a wide variety of Taylor Guitars, Jewel uses a Taylor 912-C most often.[2] Acoustic Guitar writer Jeffery Pepper Rodgers called the guitar her "steady companion".[2]
All of her guitars are strung with D'Addario products.[2] To strum, she employs a unique self-created fingerpicking technique or a hard pick.[2]
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