2008 Jewel

It's not a widely known fact, but Jewel moved away from her hometown of Payson, Utah at the age of 16 to study opera in Illinois. After getting bored with opera, she moved to San Diego, California, to live with her mother and play music at the local coffee and surf shops.

Jewel had quite the stage presence, using her time on stage to sing, play, and joke. Jewel has always been one to try to keep her music near her heart, once saying, "I wanted to focus on the craft of performing and songwriting. I've always been a live musician, and I wanted my voice to shine through. To me, relevance means staying honest about where you are. The most important thing to me is maintaining my authenticity."

In 1995, Jewel released her first album, Pieces of You. The first single from the album, Who Will Save Your Soul, featuring Jewel on both guitar and vocals is a love melody that showcases her talent with her voice going from soft and sultry all the way up to yodeling. The second single, which became one of the best selling singles of all time, was You Were Meant For Me. The video was directed by her then boyfriend, Sean Penn, and was well received on MTV.

Jewel took three years to release her next album, Spirit, but used the time in between to tour with Peter Murphy, release a book of poetry titled A Night Without Armor, and go on shows such as Entertainment Tonight and The Late Show with Jay Leno. Hands and Kiss the Flame are two of the more popular tracks from Spirit. In 1999, she released a Christmas album, entitled Joy: A Holiday Collection, with Christmas classics like Silent Night and Joy to the World.

Jewel's next album was titled This Way. This Way was used as a way to expose Jewel's personal beliefs in God and love to her fans. In Serve the Ego, Jewel discusses how people's egos act as their God, for whom they will do anything. Tracks such as Standing Still and Everybody Needs Someone Sometime can be heard and enjoyed by the entire family, bringing messages like love, Godliness, and happiness to everyone who listens.

Jewels latest release, 0304, featured the hit single Intuition. This album was a departure from her normal melodic singing, and more of an entrance into the new-age hip-hop that seems so popular with teens. The album was produced by Lester Mendez, the same man who helped Shakira become so popular.

Jewel is hoping to add to her three Grammy nominations, her American Music Award, and the MTV Music Video award she has received, and with her new album, she ought to be able to. She has also won the prestigious designation of Glamour Magazine's 10th Anniversary Women of the Year.