Jewel Kilcher

Jewel Kilcher (born May 23, 1974), professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress and poet. She has received four Grammy Award nominations and has sold over 27 million albums worldwide.

Jewel debuted on February 28, 1995, with the album, Pieces of You, which became one of the best selling debut albums of all time, going platinum 15 times. One single from the album, "Who Will Save Your Soul", peaked at #11 on Billboard's Hot 100; two others, "You Were Meant for Me" and "Foolish Games", also reached #2 and #7 respectively on the Hot 100, and were included in Billboard's 1997 year-end singles chart. She has crossed multiple genres throughout her career. Perfectly Clear, 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", "I Do", and "Til It Feels Like Cheating". Jewel released her first independent album Lullaby in May 2009.

Jewel is the co-host, as well as a judge, with Kara DioGuardi on the songwriting competition reality television series Platinum Hit, which premiered May 30, 2011, on the cable network Bravo.

Early years
Jewel was born in Payson, Utah. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Homer, Alaska, where her grandfather Yule Kilcher, a delegate to the Alaska state constitutional convention and a state senator, had settled after immigrating from Switzerland. Yule also made the first recorded crossing of the Harding Icefield. Jewel is the cousin of actress Q'orianka Kilcher. 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 outhouse instead. 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 Latter-day Saint, but they stopped attending the church shortly before she turned eight.

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. While at school, she would sometimes play at Ray's Coffee House in Traverse City, Michigan.

For a time, she was poverty-stricken and lived in her van while traveling around the country doing street performances and small gigs. She gained some recognition by singing at the Innerchange Coffeehouse and Java Joe's in San Diego, California. Her friend Steve Poltz's band, The Rugburns, played the same venues. 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, and Poltz appeared in Jewel's band on the Spirit World Tour 1999 playing guitar.

Early
In 1993, Michael Balzary (better known as Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) met Jewel after he saw her perform at a cafe. They went back to her van and spent the rest of the night in each other's company, and she gave a few songs to him. He described her voice as being "beautiful" and "breathtaking". She described him as "loving and tender".

Jewel was discovered by Inga Vainshtein in August 1993, when John Hogan, the lead singer from a local San Diego (California, United States) band, Rust, called to tell her about a girl surfer who sang at a local coffee shop on Thursdays. Vainshtein drove to Innerchange coffee shop with a rep from Atlantic Records, and after the show they called Danny Goldberg, the head of Atlantic Record's west coast operations. At the time, Jewel did not even have a demo. Goldberg offered to pay for Jewel to record some of her songs. Vainshtein, a former film studio executive, became Jewel's manager and was instrumental in creating a major bidding war, which led to Jewel's deal with Atlantic Records and her subsequent appearance on the cover of Time Magazine, the first ever by an Atlantic artist. Her first studio recording session was with Bruce Robb, who produced, engineered, and mixed her demos.

She cut her debut album, Pieces of You, in 1995 when she was 19. It was recorded in a studio on Neil Young's ranch, and was backed by his band, The Stray Gators. The album was produced by Ben Keith, who played steel guitar in Neil's band. Part of the album was cut live at the Innerchange Coffeehouse in San Diego. The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for two years, reaching number four at its peak. 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.

Peak
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. 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, and instead of Lanois, ended up going with Patrick Leonard, who created a much more pop album. Spirit was released in November 1998. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than 4 million copies in the United States. The song "Hands" hit #6 on the Hot 100. Other singles followed, 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".

A year later, in November 1999, Jewel released Joy: A Holiday Collection. The album sold over a million copies and peaked at #32 on the Billboard 200. She released a cover of "Joy to the World" from the album as a single.

In November 2001, the album This Way was released. The album peaked at #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.

0304
In 2003, Jewel released the album 0304. She wrote in the liner notes, "I wanted to make a record that was a modern interpretation of big band music. A record that was lyric driven, like Cole Porter, that also had a lot of swing. And a lot of it is thanks to Lester, because when I told him I wanted to make a record that combined dance, urban, and folk music, he didn't look at me like I was crazy." 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, which strays from her usual folk style with simple guitar instrumentation, starts off with a French accordion and experiments with dance-pop beats using synthesizers. The song was successful, reaching #5 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart and #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite the different sound, the song is lyrically similar to her previous work. It has a number of references to culture, including celebrities such as pop star Jennifer Lopez, model Kate Moss, magazines, film culture, and commercialism.

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 #8 on the Billboard Albums Chart and sold 82,000 copies in its first week. The lead single "Again and Again" had success on Adult Top 40 Radio, peaking at #16. The second single, "Good Day", was released to radio in late June and peaked at #30 on the Adult Pop Songs charts. A video for "Stephenville, TX", her next single, was seen on Yahoo! Launch. 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 a single review appearing in the Market Wire business journal, widely duplicated in publicity material by her PR team ,"The homegrown clip beautifully reflects both the song's organic, intimate sound and its powerfully autobiographical story."

, 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." Rolling Stone however, called the album "overdone and undercooked" with a rating of 2 stars out of 5. Up to now, the album has only sold over 377,000 copies.

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 January 2007.

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 an interview with the Boston Globe, Jewel stated that she is no longer affiliated with a record label, confirming rumors that Atlantic Records 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. She is working with John Rich of Big & Rich fame. He says that she is "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.

In November 2007, Jewel was signed to Valory Records, a newly formed division of the independent Big Machine Records label. Her first country album, Perfectly Clear, was released on June 3, 2008, selling 48,000 units in its first week. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Album Chart and #8 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. In its second week on the charts, the album dropped to #25 on the Billboard 200 and #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 #13. The next single, "I Do", released to radio on June 23, 2008. The video for the single featured her cowboy husband, Ty Murray. This song peaked at #28. Following it was "Till It Feels Like Cheating" which peaked at #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 #1 on The Top Children's Songs the week of release.

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.

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. The single debuted at #48 on the Hot Country Songs chart and reached #34 in May 2010. "Satisfied" was released as the album's second single on May 17, 2010, reaching its highest peak of #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 #55 on the week of October 15, 2010 and peaked at #51 two weeks later. She is currently working on an album for children, that is also enjoyable to adults.

Film and theater
Jewel starred in the 1999 Ang Lee film Ride with the Devil. Jewel also starred as Dorothy in the 1995 "Dreams Come True" production of The Wizard of Oz. She had a cameo as herself in Walk Hard.

Minor

 * Lifetime TV network released a commercial starring Jewel to help promote breast cancer awareness.
 * In 2006, Jewel appeared with Ty Murray in a Miller Lite Men of the Square Table commercial.
 * Jewel appears as herself, during her indie years, performing in a musical festival called "The Greatful Sound", in episode 23 of the anime series BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad.
 * Jewel was a featured singer in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra television special and 2001 DVD The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, performing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing".
 * Jewel appeared on The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour where she performed a duet of "Who Will Save Your Soul" with Jessica Simpson.
 * Jewel was featured on the MTV show Punk'd in 2007.
 * Jewel was a celebrity judge on Iron Chef America in 2007.
 * In 2010, Jewel appeared on the Food Network show Ace of Cakes as she kicked off her tour in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
 * In 2010, Jewel appeared in a Funny or Die Exclusive internet video. Jewel, disguised as mild mannered businesswoman, "Karen," visited a local karaoke bar and performed some of her classic songs. She sang "You Were Meant for Me" and "Foolish Games".
 * On July 3, 2010, Jewel gave an interview on NPR's Weekend Edition.

Dancing With the Stars
On February 8, 2009, it was announced that she would appear on the eighth season of Dancing With the Stars alongside new pro Dmitry Chaplin, which she did primarily as a bet against husband Ty Murray. However, five days before the season premiere, she suffered stress fractures in the tibia of both legs, and was forced to withdraw.

Writing
Jewel published a book of poetry titled A Night Without Armor in 1998. Although it sold over 1 million copies and was a The New York Times Best Seller list, it received mixed reviews. During an MTV interview in 1998, Kurt Loder pointed out the incorrect usage in her book of poetry of the word "casualty" (intended as something to the effect of "of a casual nature") to which Jewel responded, "You're a smartass for pointing that out. Next topic."

Jewel went on to write an autobiography titled Chasing Down the Dawn in 2000, a collection of diary entries and musings detailing her life growing up in Alaska, her struggle to learn her craft and life on the road.

Jewel was scheduled to release a third book called Love Poems, which was supposed to be an extremely intimate portrayal of her relationship with her boyfriend, Ty Murray. It was canceled several months before release because Jewel was worried about Murray's mother's reaction to her intimate confessions.

Philanthropy
In 1995 Jewel performed in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True, a musical performance of the popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT), and issued on CD and video in 1996.

She formed a non-profit organization called Higher Ground For Humanity with her mother, Lenedra J. Carroll, and her older brother, Shane Kilcher. The organization's focus is education, sustainable improvements, and building alliances with like-minded organizations. Jewel donates a portion of her income to the organization and often holds events to benefit the organization. The organization tends to parallel Jewel's career since she provides the majority of the organization's funding. , the activities of the organization were reduced. One early grantee was the Global Youth Action Network, which has become one of the largest youth movements around the United Nations.

In September 2006, as part of Lifetime Television's "Stop Breast Cancer for Life" campaign, Jewel delivered more than 12 million petition signatures to Capitol Hill, urging Congress to pass the bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 (S 910/HR1849). The bill would ban the practice of "drive-through" mastectomies, when women are discharged from the hospital just hours after their surgeries.

Jewel served as the honorary chairperson of the 2006 Help the Homeless Walk in Washington, DC.

Project Clean Water: Celebrity Lyrics Auction
In November 2008, Jewel began work on a project with several dozen singer-songwriters to write and auction their lyrics with donations benefiting her "Project Clean Water" charity. Many singers and songwriters besides herself have donated their written lyrics including, Patrick Davis, Alabama's Randy Owen, John Mellencamp, Jason Mraz, Gretchen Wilson, and Marv Green. The majority of the lyrics were written on paper and signed by the songwriter, with the exception of Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl". Many of the artists as well as writing lyrics (and their signature), also drew pictures to illustrate their lyrics. The auction ran from December 1, 2008 to December 18, 2008, promoted by CMT and Virgin Music. Some of the lyrics that were up for auction included hits such as "So Small", "Foolish Games", "I'm Yours", "I Kissed A Girl", "St. Elmo's Fire Movie Theme Song", "Live Like You Were Dying", "I Don't Need A Man", "Superman (It's Not Easy)" and "Redneck Woman". The auction officially ended on December 18, with the highest bought lyrics being Jewel's signature song "You Were Meant For Me" sold for $1505, and "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "Hands", raising more than $1,005 each. Jewel promises that all items sold by December 18 will be delivered by Christmas. After the majority of the auctions ended on December 18 two new lyrics by Craig Wiseman and Ernie Ashworth were put up for auction ending in January 2009.

Personal life
Jewel had relationships with The Rugburns musician Steve Poltz and actor Sean Penn. Penn directed Jewel in a music video for "You Were Meant for Me", but it was discarded in favor of a second one featuring Poltz.

Jewel married nine-time world champion pro rodeo cowboy Ty Murray on August 7, 2008 in the Bahamas after 10 years together. The couple resides in Stephenville, Texas on a 2200 acre ranch. Their son, Kase Townes Murray, was born on July 11, 2011.

Albums

 * Studio Albums


 * 1995: Pieces of You
 * 1998: ''Spirit
 * 1999: Joy: A Holiday Collection
 * 2001: This Way
 * 2003: 0304
 * 2006: Goodbye Alice in Wonderland
 * 2008: Perfectly Clear
 * 2009: Lullaby
 * 2010: Sweet and Wild

DVDs

 * Jewel: A Life Uncommon.  An intimate documentary featuring live performances and candid interviews. (1999)
 * Live at Humphrey's By The Bay.  Shot over two sold-out performances at the San Diego venue. Bonus features include interviews, live footage from her This Way Tour, and a photo gallery. (2004)
 * Jewel: The Essential Live Songbook (2008)

Books

 * Revealing Jewel An Intimate Portrait from Family and Friends (2003) Edited by Kenneth Calhoun and Cambria Jensen Publisher: Atria (June 5, 2003) ISBN 0-7434-7540-2
 * A Night Without Armor : Poems by Jewel Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (August 3, 1999) ISBN 0-06-107362-8
 * Angel Standing By: The Story of Jewel by Jewel (January 1999) ISBN 0-312-19827-2
 * Jewel: Pieces of You Published by Alfred Publishing Company (November 1997), ISBN 0-7692-1676-5
 * Chasing Down the Dawn: Stories from the road, Published by Harper Paperbacks (November 2001), ISBN 0-06-019200-3
 * The Best of Jewel - Piano/Vocal/Guitar Published by Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN
 * Jewel Spirit: Guitar Songbook Edition, by Jewel Published by Warner Brothers Publications (January 1999) ISBN 0-7692-7335-1

Major tours

 * Papillion Tour (1997)
 * Lilith Fair Tour (1997)
 * Tiny Lights Tour (1997)
 * Spirit World Tour (1999), Support Acts: Steve Poltz, Rusted Root
 * This Way World Tour (2002), Support Acts: M2M, Soul City Cafe Artists (which included Libbie Schrader's band Think of England.)
 * New Wild West Acoustic Tour (2002), Support Acts: Stewart Mathis, Jason Mraz
 * 0304 World Tour (2003), Support Acts: Josh Kelly (Tour cancelled after death of bassist Terone "T-bone" Hannon.)
 * 0304 Acoustic Tour (2003/2004), Support Acts: Madeline Peyroux, Joe Firstman, Ryan Cabrera, Susan Greenbaum, Anne Heaton
 * Tour For No Reason [Acoustic] (2005), Support Acts: Joe Firstman
 * Something to Be Tour (2006), Opening act for Rob Thomas along with Toby Lightman.
 * Goodbye Alice In Wonderland Tour (2006), Tour included dates with a band, but majority were performed as solo acoustic shows. Steve Poltz opened several shows.
 * The Paisley Party Tour (2008), with headliner Brad Paisley and co-supporting acts, Chuck Wicks, and Julianne Hough.
 * Perfectly Clear Acoustic Tour (2009), Support Act: Toby Lightman.
 * Lullaby Acoustic Tour (2009), Support Acts: Meiko, Holly Williams.
 * Star Light Cafe Tour - Acoustic (2010) Support Acts: Kip Moore, Radney Foster.