Sheryl Crow
Panelist, "The Marriage Ref"
Singer, musician, and songwriter Sheryl Crow was born February 11, 1962, in Kennett, Missouri. She showed an early talent for music, playing piano at age six. She graduated from Kennett High School in 1980 and the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1984. After graduating, she taught music in St. Louis area elementary schools. She moved to Los Angeles in 1984.
She found early work as a jingles and backup singer (notably for Michael Jackson, on his "Bad" tour in 1987-88, as well as Sting, Rod Stewart and Don Henley. She joined a band, The Tuesday Music Club, with Bill Bottrell, David Baerwald, David Ricketts, and Kevin Gilbert. Their 1993 debut, "Tuesday Night Music Club," went multi-platinum and produced the smash single, "All I Wanna Do."
She set out on a solo career and in 1995 won three Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Record of the Year (for "All I Want to Do"), and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Tuesday Music Club."
Her 1996 follow-up, "Sheryl Crow," won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. She toured extensively in 1997 and in 1998 returned to the studio to record her third album, "The Globe Sessions," which received another Grammy award for Best Rock Album.
The new millennium brought 2002's platinum "C'mon C'mon," whose gold "Soak Up The Sun" peaked in the Top 20, and "Steve McQueen" again nabbed her Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy. A 2003 greatest hits compilation, the four-times platinum "The Very Best Of Sheryl Crow," featured a cover of Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is The Deepest." 2005's platinum "Wildflower" featured a duet with Sting, "Always On Your Side."
In 2006, she was diagnosed with breast cancer; fortunately it was caught in its early stages. Following treatment, she bought a horse farm near Nashville--fulfilling a childhood dream. She adopted her son Wyatt later that year.
Politically active, in 2006 Crow headlined the Stop Global Warming College Tour and performed later in the year as part of the Live Earth concerts. She released her sixth studio album, "Detours," in 2008 and gave 50,000 copies away to activists who helped register new voters as part of the Rock the Vote campaign. She begins a tour this summer, starting June 11th at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, TN.