Jewel

Jewel was born in Payson, Utah, to Atz Kilcher, whose parents were German-speaking immigrants from Switzerland and Lenedra Carroll. 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.

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.

In 1993, Flea of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers met Jewel after he saw her perform at a local cafe. He went back to her van where she was living, where she sang a few of her songs to him. He described her singing voice as being "beautiful" and "breathtaking". 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.n The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for an impressive two years, reaching number four at its peak. 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 U.S. alone, more than all of her subsequent albums put together.

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 U.S. 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 U.S., 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 "This Way" and "Serve The Ego", the latter giving Jewel her first number one club hit.

In 2003 Jewel released 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, 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 it was too much of a change from the style of her older albums.

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. The album sold 82,000 copies in its first week out. The lead single "Again and Again" has had moderate success on Top 40 Radio, peaking at 16. The second single, "Good Day", was released to radio in late June but failed to gain any traction on the radio airplay charts. Recently, a video for "Stephenville, TX", her next single, has been seen on Yahoo! Launch.

As of December 2006, the album barely sold 270,000 copies. It is notable in that it is the only Jewel album to not achieve Gold certification.

In early February 2007, Jewel made a promotional appearance on the T in Boston for the Verizon Yellow Pages, playing songs on a moving subway car and then doing a small acoustic concert in South Station. In an interview with the Boston Globe, Jewel confirmed 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 latest album. She also hinted that she would like to do a country album next.