Image source, Getty Images
- author, Mark Savage
- role, Music Correspondent
Sheryl Crow sometimes wants to get something off her chest.
The nine-time Grammy winner has never been afraid to voice her opinions over the years.
Known for classic roots rock songs like “My Favourite Mistake” and “All I Wanna Do,” she has also used her voice to campaign on issues like gun control and climate change.
Now she's turning her attention to artificial intelligence.
The title track from her new album, “Evolution,” addresses the impact of AI on humanity and the planet.
In an interview with the BBC, she described the technology as a “dangerous path” and a “betrayal of all the foundations of humanity”.
She became interested in the software last year after meeting a young songwriter who was incorporating it into his work.
Frustrated that male singers wouldn't listen to her demos, she paid to have an AI clone of country singer John Mayer replace her vocals.
Crowe said that when he heard the song, he became so “scared” that he literally “hyperventilated.”
“I know John and I know the nuances of his voice,” she says, “and there was no way I could have known he wasn't singing that song.”
Her fears were compounded earlier this year when Drake used AI to recreate the voice of the late rapper Tupac Shakur in his song “Taylor Made Freestyle.”
The song was later pulled after lawyers for Tupac's estate threatened legal action, but Crowe says it should never have been released in the first place.
“It's impossible to believe that people who have been raised from the dead could endure it,” she protests.
“I'm sure Drake was like, 'Uh, I shouldn't have done that, but I'll apologize later.' But he did it and people are going to find it even if he deletes it.”
“It's an abomination. It goes against the life force that exists within all of us.”
The mother of two teenagers, she is concerned about the impact of AI not just on music, but on politics and society.
How do we stop the spread of misinformation when voices and likenesses can be faked? And what will happen to the workforce as AI takes over daily tasks?
“I talk to my kids about it,” she says.
“I say, 'You've grown up with this thing and you don't think it's dangerous because you're a frog in a pot, but the water is just starting to boil and you won't realize it's hot until we're all floating to the surface.'
She's already calling on politicians to enact stricter regulations for AI, but even as she worries about how quickly the technology is advancing, she also sees a glimmer of hope.
“AI can do a lot of things, but it can't go out and play live,” she says.
“So as long as there's live music, as long as there's hands holding paintbrushes, all is not lost.”
“I was bossy.”
Crowe has just completed a week of UK concerts at historic venues such as Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court, so live music is on her mind.
The setlist relied heavily on her first four albums, including 1990s radio staples such as Everyday Is A Winding Road, Soak Up The Sun, My Favourite Mistake and Leaving Las Vegas.
The 62-year-old says she's content performing her hits.
“It's so amazing to be able to go out and play at this age. I look at my band and I'm honestly like, 'I can't believe I can still do this!'” she laughs.
Despite the jet lag, Crowe looks relaxed and cheerful, exuding enough rock-star energy to turn heads as he walks into the BBC in a plum-colored velvet vest and flared blue jeans.
But despite selling 50 million records, her career gives the impression of being one big lucky fluke.
“More aggressively.”
Although Crow, a Missouri native, excelled in school, became a state track athlete and marching band leader, she felt like she didn't fit in and always found herself “on the fringe of different groups.”
Music was her outlet: rejecting “corporate” bands like Boston and Foreigner, she was drawn to the rawness and glamour of blues and rock.
“I wanted something more bossy, like Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones.”
Her first group didn't offer much oomph: a covers band that played weddings and events, with a repertoire full of hits by Huey Lewis and Heart. “All the classics from the '80s,” she grimaces. “That's not my favorite period of music.”
After school, she studied classical piano and then moved to St. Louis, where she became a music teacher while also working as a club singer.
“A producer came in one night and asked me to sing some jingles. I got paid more for those jingles than I had in all the years I'd worked as a teacher.”
She made enough money working at Toyota and McDonald's to move to Los Angeles with a demo tape of commercials.
This led to more work as a session singer, and eventually to a gig with Michael Jackson on his Bad tour (he threw sweets at her through the wall in his dressing room).
“After the Jackson tour, I was trying to get some attention and get a record deal,” she says.
“But I was never a technical singer like Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey, and I had no interest in doing dance music like Madonna or Paula Abdul.”
Image source, Getty Images
Finally, A&M Records took a gamble, impressed by his demos, which were heavily influenced by the solo albums of Sting and Peter Gabriel.
They teamed her up with Sting's producer Hugh Padgham, but upon completion of the album, Crowe lost confidence in the work.
“I just couldn't find myself there. The songs were rather innocuous and didn't represent the person I wanted to be.”
When she told her label, they were not impressed.
“That record cost a lot of money — $450,000 in 1990s money — and they needed to get that money back.
“So it was really tough. They were in no rush to get me back in the studio.”
Scrap Album
Eventually, through her then-boyfriend, Kevin Gilbert, she got involved with a songwriting collective called the Tuesday Music Club, which met weekly in Pasadena and tried to finish songs before dawn.
The sessions were recorded by Michael Jackson producer Bill Bottrell for “About My Two Cents” and released on Crow's debut album in 1993.
The album, a blend of roots, Americana, emotional confessionals, melody and intellect, struggled to catch on – it didn't even make the charts for the first seven months after its release.
Danny Baker had gained early support in the UK, with singles “Run, Baby Run” and “Leaving Las Vegas” being played on BBC Radio 1, but to Crowe's surprise, it was “All I Wanna Do,” a song about everyday life in a bar, that changed the album's fortunes.
“I just couldn't get behind 'All I Wanna Do,'” she says. “It felt like the afterglow of a drunken night of jamming.”
“But when you think about it, there was something very genuine about the spirit of that song, and at the time this old man was experiencing a lot of burnout and apathy. [George Bush Sr] “The excitement of Bill Clinton, as well as the joy of the presidency, was speaking to the MTV audience, and I think this song captured a moment in time.”
Image source, Getty Images
Though it was a Top Five hit on both sides of the Atlantic and helped Tuesday Night Music Club sell more than 11 million copies worldwide, Crow still felt like outsiders.
Grunge and alternative rock were on the rise, and no one knew what to do with this country-inspired, nostalgic rock singer.
“I wasn't really interested in Pearl Jam,” she recalls, “and I certainly wasn't interested in Smashing Pumpkins.
“But in the end, I was accepted by people I love. The Rolling Stones took me on tour and Bob Dylan invited me to be his opening act. What a gift.”
Affair with Fleetwood
Dylan contributed an unreleased song, “Mississippi,” to Crowe's third album, The Globe Sessions, and Crowe went on to record the Bond theme, “Tomorrow Never Dies,” as well as duets with Prince and Johnny Cash.
She was also considered to replace Christine McVie on Fleetwood Mac's 2003 world tour.
“There were definitely discussions, but it kind of fizzled out,” she said.
“I told the press about it, and Lindsay [Buckingham] Really…” She stopped herself before she said the wrong thing.
“I mean, I love every single member of that band, and I'm honored to be able to say that. It's been amazing just getting to know them.”
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Stevie Nicks was and continues to be a huge figure in her life.
Last November, she showed up to support Crow at his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
“I'm so proud of you,” Nicks told the singer. “This is such an elite club for us women. I found out at 4 in the morning and I had to dance in the room for you.”
Also joining the celebration was Olivia Rodrigo, who spoke passionately about Crowe's influence on her own songwriting.
She's not the only one.
Indie supergroup Boygenius wrote their smash hit “Not Strong Enough” in response to Crowe's song “Strong Enough,” Kacey Musgraves recorded “Golden Hour” at Crowe's home studio in Nashville, and St. Vincent recently called him for advice on working on her new album.
Crow is touched by all the love shown to him.
“It's amazing,” she says, “I'm so amazed at all the young women out there now who are actually performing and singing and writing songs, whereas 15 or 20 years ago I was so worried that it would all just be dance routines and lip syncing and boobs and lips.”
“I just thought, 'When are we going to have a young female songwriter who picks up a guitar and is willing to share their heartfelt stories?'
“And now we're seeing it from Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor, Boygenius and Courtney Barnett. It's so fun. It makes me so optimistic.”
Image source, Will Skowns
And what if her sons decide to follow her into the stage?
The pair already made a brief (but adorable) appearance together at Glastonbury in 2019, with the singer saying he'll be supporting them no matter what direction life takes them.
“I don't try to control my kids' lives, I try to help them navigate life,” she says.
“There are no restrictions. I even tell my kids, 'Even if you drink, my phone is on, so if I call you to pick me up, you won't be grounded.'”
Is it because her youthful delinquent behaviour can be easily researched on Google?
“We talked about it!” she laughs. “I said I couldn’t believe I was alive.
“I remember recording in Pasadena late at night and driving home in my car. I don't remember how I got there. I'm very lucky. Some people aren't.”
“I tell my kids, 'Never count on angels'… but they do exist.”
