Jewel (singer)

The song and video seemed to be intended as social commentary on the state of pop music but it left fans wondering if Jewel had in fact become what she was satirizing. The song "My Sharona" was later parodied by the Dead Kennedys with the song "Pull My Strings" which included lines such as "I'll make my music boring, I'll play my music slow, I ain't no artist, I'm a business man, No ideas of my own". Her video for the debut single Intuition had her cavorting in full dance numbers, often scantily clad in bras and bikinis. They continue to tour and thrill fans with their high energy rock and roll performance. In 2003 Jewel underwent a drastic image change with the release of her album 0304. They have since re-united and in 2001 put out their studio album Normal As The Next Guy and their live DVD Live From The Rock N'Roll Funhouse. Chasing Down the Dawn is 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. After subsequent albums, though, the backlash against The Knack led to their break-up.

A Night Without Armor is a collection of some of her poems. The Knack's power pop and hard rock influences earned them much critical credibility. Writing is nothing new for Jewel since she has been writing poetry most of her life. She has at least two published works. Music critics hated disco, which dominated the music industry at the time, and were, at best, coolly receptive to other developing trends like hip hop and heavy metal music. The first movie she appeared in was in 1999 in Ride with the Devil, for which she received critical acclaim. "My Sharona" was an international hit that earned the band comparisons to The Beatles. Besides singing, Jewel has also tried her hand at acting and writing. The Knack were a Los Angeles-based rock band that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", in 1979 (see 1979 in music) from their debut album, Get the Knack.

Due to her success, she was chosen to sing the national anthem at the opening of the Super Bowl in January 1998. However, her music is mostly recognized as popular music and enjoys wide exposure on a variety of music radio stations. Her songs resist categorization, but, because of their mostly guitar accompaniment, have sometimes been categorized as folk music or the hybrid class folk-pop. Jewel is noted for her song's qualites of stark honesty and soulful introspection.

The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for an impressive two years, reaching number four at its peak popularity. Some of the songs on the album were recorded at the coffeehouse. She cut her debut album, Pieces of You, when she was nineteen and it was released in 1995. It was at these coffeehouse appearances that she was discovered by Atlantic Records.

Poltz has collaborated with her on several of her songs and appeared in Jewel's band on the Spirit World Tour 1999 playing acoustic guitar. For a time she dated Steve Poltz, one of the band's members. It was at these appearances she met the band The Rugburns, who she often appeared with. She gained a reputation by singing at the Innerchange Coffeehouse in San Diego, California.

For a time, she was poverty-stricken and lived in her van while travelling about the country. She started writing songs at the age of seventeen. Jewel learned to play the guitar while on scholarship at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, where she majored in operatic voice. During high school, Jewel was known to spell her name "Jule," but she attributes this to simple playing with her name as teenagers are prone to do.

Her father was a Mormon, but they stopped attending the church shortly before she turned eight. It was from these experiences she learned to yodel, a quality demonstrated in many of her songs. She and her father sometimes earned a living by singing in bars and taverns. The home she grew up in there did not have indoor plumbing, but a simple outhouse instead.

Jewel was born in Payson, Utah, but spent most of her young life growing up in Homer, Alaska, living with her father. Jewel Kilcher (born May 23, 1974) is a singer-songwriter better known by her stage name, Jewel. "2 Become 1" (0304). "Stand" (0304).

"Intuition" (0304). "Break Me" (This Way). "Standing Still" (This Way). "Joy to the World" (Joy - A Holiday Collection).

"Under the Water" ("The Craft" soundtrack). "What's Simple is True" (Spirit). "Down So Long" (Spirit). "Hands" (Spirit).

"Have a Little Faith in Me" ("Phenomenon" Soundtrack). "Foolish Games" (Pieces of You). "You Were Meant For Me" (Pieces of You). "Who Will Save Your Soul?" (Pieces of You).

0304. This Way. Joy - A Holiday Collection. Spirit.

Pieces of You.