Jewel (singer)

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{{Infobox_band | band_name = Jewel | image = Image:Jewel (singer).jpg

| years_active = 1995- Present | music_genre = Folk Music</small>
Country Music</small>
Pop | record_label = Warner Music
Atlantic Records</small>
(1995–Present) }}

Jewel Kilcher (born May 23, 1974 in Payson, Utah) is a singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and author, better known by her first name, Jewel. Her albums are successful in countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Canada and now Australia besides the United States.

Contents

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Early years

Jewel was born in Payson, Utah to immigrants from Switzerland, and spent most of her young life growing up in Homer, Alaska, living with her father. The home in which she grew up did not have indoor plumbing, but a simple outhouse instead. She and her father sometimes earned a living by singing in bars and taverns. It was from these experiences she learned to yodel, a quality demonstrated in many of her songs. Her father was a Mormon, but they stopped attending the church shortly before she turned eight.

During high school, Jewel was known to spell her name "Jule" or "Juel", but she attributes this to simply playing with her name, as teenagers are prone to do.

Jewel learned to play the guitar while on scholarship at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, where she majored in operatic voice. She started writing songs at the age of seventeen.

For a time, she was poverty-stricken and lived in her van while traveling about the country. 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 appeared in Jewel's band on the Spirit World Tour 1999 playing guitar.

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Career

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Music

It was at these coffeehouse appearances that she was discovered by Atlantic Records. She cut her debut album, Pieces of You, when she was nineteen and it was released in 1995. Some of the songs on the album were recorded at the coffeehouse. The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for an impressive two years, reaching number four at its peak popularity. The album spawned the Top 10 hits "You Were Meant for Me", "Who Will Save Your Soul?" and "Foolish Games". The album was a huge success and eventually sold over 12 million copies in the US alone.

The original version of "Who Will Save Your Soul" was removed from the final version of the album when she went back into the studio and reworked the single for the radio. Instead of just a guitar and her voice, other instruments were added and more pop sound was created, a verse was cut, and the radio version of the single was produced.

Jewel is noted for her songs' qualities of stark honesty and soulful introspection. Her songs resist categorization, but, because of their mostly guitar accompaniment, have sometimes been categorized as folk music or the hybrid class folk-pop. However, her music is mostly recognized as popular music and enjoys wide exposure on a variety of music radio stations.

Due to her success, she was chosen to sing the national anthem at the opening of the Super Bowl in January 1998.

In November 1998, Jewel released her second album, Spirit. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 4 million copies in the US. The songs "Hands" and "Down So Long" hit the Top 10. 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 her holiday album, 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.

In November 2001, the album This Way was released. The album peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 1 million copies in the US, standing as her most critically acclaimed album to date. Jewel hit the Top 10 with the song "Standing Still" and the Top 40 with the song "Break Me". Other singles released were "Serve The Ego", a club single only, "Serve The Ego" gave Jewel her first number one club hit and a new version of the song "This Way".

Although noted for original songs, Jewel has been known to cover a few famous tunes. Of note are the acoustic version of the classic The Water Is Wide and the Christmas songs on Joy: A Holiday Collection. However, the rise of file-sharing software has led to at least two instances where many people mistakenly believe she sings other cover versions: the version "Bizarre Love Triangle" credited to Jewel is in fact by Frente!, while the version of "Leaving On A Jet Plane" credited to Bjork and Jewel is actually by Chantal Kreviazuk.

In 2003 Jewel underwent a drastic image change with the release of her album 0304. She writes in her 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 stuff, 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." While some fans considered 0304 an innovative album that held to the tradition of her previous albums, others felt that Jewel's new direction brought with it an unwelcome change to her folky sound and folksy, unassuming persona [1].

Her video for the debut single Intuition had her cavorting in full dance numbers, often scantily clad in bras and bikinis. The song and video were an ironic social commentary on the state of music, but it left many fans wondering if Jewel had in fact become what she was satirizing, especially considering the fact the song was licensed by Schick to promote their new Intuition woman's razor. "Intuition" hit the Top 20, and the album 0304 debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, giving Jewel her highest chart dating ever. A follow-up single, "Stand," was released, but did not help the album in the USA, where it sold just 900,000 units, making it her lowest-selling album. "0304" gave Jewel her highest selling album in Australia, despite its lukewarm reception elsewhere.

In late 2005, Jewel announced her 6th album, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland was finished, and was to be released May 2, 2006, produced by Green Day producer, Rob Cavallo. The first single, "Again and Again", will be released to radio stations in late February. [2]. A special video to the title track appeared on Jewel's official fanclub page on 25th January, and was made available to the general public 5 days later.

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Film

Jewel appeared in the 1999 Ang Lee film Ride with the Devil

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Writing

Jewel published a book of poetry titled "A Night Without Armor" in 1998 and an autobiography titled Chasing Down the Dawn in 2000. Chasing Down The Dawn was 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. "A Night Without Armor" sold over 1 million copies and was a New York Times Bestseller.

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Philanthropy

Image:Jewel (USO).jpg

Jewel Kilcher 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 main focus became access to clean water in developing countries after The Clearwater Project was launched in 1999. The organization's focus is education, sustainable improvements, and building alliances with like minded organizations.

The Clearwater Project has taken on projects in South America, Central America, India, and Africa, building wells and water filtration systems. One such project was the reactivation of construction of a well through the use of a solar powered pump for the benefit of the Maasai people in the Sukenia region of Tanzania, Africa. Before Clearwater's involvement villagers were walking as much as 10 hours a day to fetch clean water. Other projects have taken place in Malakkara, India; Gualcea, Honduras; Sisoguichi, Mexico; and Bangladesh.

Jewel donates a portion of her income to the organization and often holds events to benefit the organization. The organization tends to parallel the career of Jewel since she provides the majority of the organization's funding. As of 2005, the activities of the organization were reduced.

Jewel has publicly supported The ONE Campaign, to eradicate third world poverty.

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Discography

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Albums

Image:GoodbyeAliceInWonderland.jpg LPs:

(Worldwide Sales: Over 30 million+)

EP Promos:

  • Save The Linoleum (Promo) 1994
  • You Were Meant For Me aka Phyllis Barnabee Finally Gets a Bra (Promo PRCD 6416-2) 1995
  • Shiva Diva Doo-Wop
  • Bits and Baubles (Promo) 1999

for information see Jewel discography

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Singles

1995:

  • "Who Will Save Your Soul" (Pieces of You) #11 US

1997:

  • "You Were Meant For Me" (Pieces of You) #2 US
  • "Foolish Games" (Pieces of You) #2 US
  • "Morning Song" (Pieces of You) [UK only]

1998:

  • "Hands" (Spirit) #6 US

1999:

  • "Down So Long" (Spirit) #59 US
  • "Jupiter (Swallow the Moon)" (Spirit)
  • "What's Simple Is True" (Spirit)
  • "Life Uncommon (Live)" NOT AN OFFICIAL SINGLE RELEASE

2001:

  • "Standing Still" (This Way) #25 US

2002:

  • "Break Me" (This Way)
  • "This Way" (This Way)
  • "Serve the Ego" (This Way) [Club Only Release] #1 US Billboard Club

2003:

  • "Intuition" (0304) #20 US, #1 US Billboard Club
  • "Stand" (0304) #1 US Billboard Club
  • "2 Become 1" (0304)

2006:

  • "Goodbye Alice In Wonderland (Goodbye Alice In Wonderland)
  • "Again and Again" (Goodbye Alice In Wonderland) #16 U.S. Adult Top 40

Original Soundtrack Contributions:

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Videos

-Videos have been shot for the following songs:

  • Who Will Save Your Soul
  • You Were Meant For Me (Version 1) [Directed by Sean Penn)
  • You Were Meant For Me (Version 2) [Radio Remix]
  • Foolish Games [Radio Remix]
  • Hands
  • Down So Long
  • Jupiter (Swallow the Moon)[Radio Remix]
  • What's Simple Is True
  • Standing Still
  • Break Me [Radio Remix]
  • This Way [Radio Remix]
  • Intuition
  • Stand
  • Goodbye Alice In Wonderland (Fan Club Exclusive)
  • Again and Again (Released March 20, 2006 Dir. Matthew Rolston)
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DVD's

  • 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)
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Books

  • Revealing Jewel An Intimate Portrait from Family and Friends (2003) Edited by Kenneth Calhoun and Cambria Jensen
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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
  • 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
  • Tour For No Reason [Acoustic] (2005) Support Acts: Joe Firstman
  • 2006 Summer Tour (Jewel will do several solo dates, as well as co-headling dates with Rob Thomas)
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Awards

  • 1997 American Music Awards: Best New Artist
  • 1997 MTV Video Music Awards: Best Female Video (You Were Meant for Me)
  • 1999 Blockbuster Music Awards: Best Rock Album (Female)
  • 1999 Audie Award (Audio Publishers Association): Spoken Word Album (A Night Without Armor)
  • 1999 Governer's Award: Los Angeles NARAS Chapter (songwriting)
  • 2004 Radio Music Awards: Best Makeout Song (Intuition)
  • 2004 Regis and Kelly Awards: Favorite Musical Guest

Jewel also holds the record in the Guiness Book of World Records for longest chart run of a single for "You Were Meant For Me (Radio Edit)/Foolish Games".

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See also

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External links

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