Missouri-born Sheryl Crow turns 60 today. The singer-songwriter grew up in Missouri excelling in high school as an all state track athlete and member of the national Honor Society and the FFA while also winning a beauty contest and performing as a band majorette.
After graduating from the University of Missouri, she worked as a music teacher and performed on the side. A friend convinced her to record in his basement studio, and it was enough to land some lucrative advertising jingles, and from there she landed a spot as a backup singer on Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour.
Her first record in 1992 was abandoned, as she was not satisfied with the result. By 1994, she recorded again with a casual collective that called themselves the Tuesday Music Club. The album was slow to develop, but “All I Wanna Do” was an unexpected smash late in the year, and the album won three Grammys.
After suffering through a period of deep depression, Crow had a successful end to the century, winning two more Grammys with her album The Globe Sessions. She won again in 2001 for Best Female Rock Performance for another single released from the album.
A 2003 greatest hits compilation also included a cover of the Cat Stevens-written “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” which became her highest charting single since 1994.
Over the decades, Crow has been active in numerous charitable and activist causes, including relief efforts in Congo and promotion of transcendental meditation. A series of high profile relationships including Eric Clapton, Owen Wilson and Lance Armstrong all ended and Crow has adopted two boys.
