Singer-songwriter Jewel took the alternative music world by storm in 1995, when her debut album Pieces of You spawned hit singles like “You Were Meant For Me” and “Who Will Save Your Soul.” Now she’s 46-years-old and in a new interview, showed that she hasn’t aged a day in the 25 years since the album dropped. The singer spoke to Channel Nine Australia’s Today show remotely from her home in Alaska on Dec. 8, 2020, and her face looked as flawless and youthful as it did when she was a 21-year-old newcomer.
Jewel appeared radiant and without a wrinkle on her dewey complexion in the interview. She wore her blonde tresses down and over her shoulders, and was true to her quirky fashion sense with a brightly patterned scarf tied around her head and a light burgundy fedora atop it and slightly askew. The singer looked like sunshine in a bright yellow blouse with a plunging neckline.
The singer — full name Jewel Kilcher — relived the tough road she took to becoming a superstar. She was living out of her car in San Diego, playing coffeehouses and other local gigs and then had a number one album less than two years later. “I got discovered when I was homeless. I was living in my car because I wouldn’t have sex with my boss and he wouldn’t give me my paycheck,” she explained.
“I turned to songwriting to break a habit of shoplifting. I was shoplifting, mostly food. I realized I would end up in jail or dead if I didn’t do something about it,” Jewel revealed about her harrowing days before fame. But once success finally came, “That record was medicine for me. I never thought I would get to be able to be a songwriter for a living.” Pieces of You went on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide.
“This record was like a magic carpet that changed my life forever. What is it, maybe a thousand words on the album that irrevocably change my life and I get to make a living being a storyteller, and I still pinch myself,” the beautiful singer added. Jewel famously came from nothing, as she grew up near Homer, Alaska in a house that had no running water or heat, and an outhouse for a bathroom.
In her teens, the people of Homer helped raise funds for Jewel to study music at an academy in Michigan, and at the age of 16 she began writing her own songs. Upon graduating, she headed to San Diego where she worked in coffee shops and as a phone operator. She was discovered while playing a Thursday night coffee house session in San Diego in 1993 by a woman who went on to manager Jewel’s career and helped get the money raised for Pieces of You’s demo to be recorded.
Twenty five years later, Jewel is back living Alaska, yet still keeps up a steady performance schedule around the country. In 2019 she released her first original song in four years, “No More Tears,” which was written for a documentary about homeless youth called Lost In America, which she also executive produced. “This has been an issue and cause very dear to my heart,” she told HollywoodLife at the time. “I was so moved as I was working on the documentary, that I was inspired to write a song for the youth I came to know through the process. It was a transformative experience to see the film come together and to write this song and be able to record it.”
