  Jewel (Kilcher) was born May 23,
1974, in Utah and raised in Homer, Alaska on
an 800 acres with no television or showers.
Jewel told MTV, "...there weren't a lot
of distractions like TV and things like that.
I was raised writing." At age 6, Jewel
began to tour with her parents who were both
musicians and Jewel performed a yodeling
routine. "I was a very bored and
deranged, disciplined little girl. My dad
yodeled, but he wouldn't teach me because he
said I was too young ...and I think I did it
out of spite. I just practiced constantly and
I got kicked out of the 3rd grade with a note
during math class saying 'we appreciate
Jewel's artistic endeavors but would you ask
her not to yodel during math class.' I still
can't multiply but..." The touring
eventually led her to California with just
her father after her parents divorced. Jewel
has said: "After my parents got
divorced, I started writing poetry a lot
because I didn't always know how to express
myself. That to me is the real beauty of
writing... it makes you more intimate with
yourself." Jewel spent her last 2 years
of high school at a Michigan fine arts school
on a scholarship, and began to write songs
and learn the guitar. Eventually, Jewel began
performing on her own at age 18 at local
coffeehouses in California while living out
her van.
 Although Pieces
Of You was Jewel's first mainstream
hit LP and released in February, Jewel hit it
really big with the LP at the start of 1997.
 # 22
Singles Artist of the Year
Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Who Will Save Your Soul."
Pieces
Of You was certified gold.
 Jewel hit the Top 10 with "Who Will Save Your Soul."
Pieces
Of You was certified platinum.
Jewel was nominated for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Female Video and Best New Artist ("Who Will Save Your Soul").
Jewel hit the Top 40 with "You Were Meant For Me."
 # 2
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1
Female Artist of the Year)
 Pieces
Of You was Jewel's debut Atlantic
recording consisting of studio recordings and
live recordings recorded at the Inner Change
in San Diego (the coffee shop that Jewel had
worked at as a performer). Jewel graced the
cover of Time magazine. Two Top 10
hits, "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "You Were Meant For Me," and numerous
concert and television appearances made music
lovers take notice of this new singer. Jewel
has said that her first LP "...was
really me... I basically got to produce it...
nobody told me this is what you have to edit
and this is what sound you need to make it
cool..."
 Jewel won an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist.
Pieces
Of You was certified 2x platinum.
Jewel hit the Top 10 with "You Were Meant For Me."
Jewel was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Female
("Who Will Save Your Soul").
Pieces
Of You was certified 3x platinum and
the single "You Were Meant For Me" was certified
gold.
"You Were Meant For Me" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles Airplay chart for 9
weeks.
Pieces
Of You was certified 4x platinum.
"You Were Meant For Me" topped the
Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for a
week.
 The single "You Were Meant For Me" was certified
platinum.
Jewel could be heard on the Batman
And Robin soundtrack with a revamped
version of her song, "Foolish Games."
Jewel also did a cover version
of Eric Carmen's "All
By Myself" for the movie, Clueless,
but it did not make it onto the soundtrack.
Additional movie songs Jewel has contributed
include "Under The Water" on The
Craft soundtrack, "Have A Little
Faith In Me" on the Phenomenon soundtrack, and
"Sunshine Superman" from I
Shot Andy Warhol.
On her success, Jewel has said:
"It's like a jalopy winning the Indy
500." "I have a new car, I don't
worry about eating, I don't worry about
getting sick and being able to afford a
doctor... the biggest thing to me is I do
feel like I have a purpose and I think
everybody wants that and I feel I'm so glad
to have it."
 Pieces
Of You was certified 5x platinum.
Jewel was found during the
summer occasionally joining the all-star
female concert package of the Lilith Fair.
Jewel released Pieces
Of You as a double-LP on vinyl - the
LP contained all the tracks from the original
Pieces
Of You LP, plus 5 unreleased
songs ("Emily," "Cold
Song," "Angel Needs A Ride"
"Rocker Girl," and "Everything
Breaks").
Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Foolish Games."
Jewel hit the Top 10 with "Foolish Games."
Jewel won Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music
Awards for "You Were Meant For Me" and was also
nominated for Video of the Year and Viewer's Choice. Jewel unexpectedly
sang "Angels Standing By" (instead
of the planned "Foolish Games") to reflect the
recent mood and mourning in the world over
Princess Diana's death.
Pieces
Of You was certified 6x platinum.
"Foolish Games" topped the Hot
100 Singles Airplay chart 3 weeks.
 Jewel hit #1 for 3 weeks with
"Foolish Games."
Pieces
Of You was certified 7x platinum.
SoundScan proclaimed Jewel's Pieces
Of You the second best-selling LP of
1997 - selling over 4.3 million copies in the
U.S. during the year.
Jewel topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Adult Top
40 Artist.
 # 66
Singles Artist of the Year
 Jewel was nominated for 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Pieces
Of You).
Pieces
Of You was certified 8x platinum.
Jewel was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Female
("Foolish Games").
 Jewel could be found singing
"You Make Loving Fun" on Legacy:
A Tribute To Rumours - a tribute LP
to Fleetwood
Mac.
Jewel fans received new material
in the form of a book of poetry called A
Night Without Armor. The book is a
collection of poems Jewel has written dating
back to her childhood and sold over 500,000
copies (spending 10 weeks on The New York
Times Best-Seller list). Plans for a
second book (possibly a collection of
photographs, short stories, and diary
entries) is also being discussed with her
publisher, HarperCollins.
 Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Hands."
Jewel said of her next LP, Spirit: "I did go
through a phase of writing songs that were
very dark... you'll never hear me sing
another sensitive song again... but I decided
it was rather cowardice of me and not very
responsible, so I want this album to be an
antidote."
 Spirit was released with the
first single "Hands."
Spirit was certified platinum
by the end of the month and Jewel hit the Top
10
with "Hands."
A lawsuit was filed against
Jewel for over $10 million by a former
manager who claims that she discovered and
managed the singer until Jewel's mom had her
fired.
Spirit was certified 2x
platinum.
 # 24
Singles Artist of the Year
 Jewel, who is no stranger to
hard-times, started her own non-profit
charity, Higher Ground For Humanity, directed
at improving "the human condition and
foster the positive spiritual evolution of
human awareness and action."
Spirit was certified 3x
platinum.
 Pieces
Of You was certified 9x platinum.
Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Down
So Long."
Jewel took home a Blockbuster
Award for Favorite Female Artist - Modern
Rock.
Jewel hit the Top
10
with "Down
So Long."
 Spirit was certified 4x
platinum.
Jewel performed at Woodstock '99
in Rome, New York.
 Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Jupiter
(Swallow The Moon)."
Jewel took part in Net.aid.
Pieces
Of You was certified 11x platinum.
Jewel released a holiday LP, Joy-A
Holiday Collection.
 Jewel was named 1 of Glamour
magazine's "1999 Women of the
Year."
Jewel could be seen as the
female lead in a Civil War drama titled Ride
With The Devil.
Jewel could be heard on the
soundtrack to her film Ride
With The Devil.
 Jewel decided not to perform in
her home-state of Alaska on New Year's Eve
due to either concerns over Y2K problems or
slow-selling high-priced tickets (depending
on who you believe).
Joy-A
Holiday Collection was certified
platinum.
Jewel played several dates
around Western U.S.
 Jewel released her 2nd book, Chasing
Down The Dawn.
 # 53
Singles Artist of the Year
Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Standing Still."
 Jewel released This
Way with the first single "Standing Still." Jewel said of
the new LP: "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. At the same time, I
hope to stay relevant as a writer, which
means staying honest about where you are. The
most important thing to me is maintaining my
authenticity. I'll always be curious
musically and want to try new things, but
above all, I want the music to sound honest
and good in 20 years."
Jewel hit the Top 10 with "Standing Still."
 This
Way was certified platinum.
 # 85
Singles Artist of the Year
Jewel was thrown from a horse
while in Texas and suffered bruises and a
broken collarbone and rib.
Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Break Me."
 Jewel could be heard on the
soundtrack for Sweet
Home Alabama with
a remake of Lynyrd Skynyrd's
"Sweet Home Alabama."
Jewel ranked # 45
on VH1: 100
Sexiest Artists.
 Jewel topped the Billboard Dance
Music Club Play chart for a week with the
remixes of "Serve The Ego."
 # 29
Singles Artist of the Year
 Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Intuition."
Jewel performed on VH1's Divas
Duets 2003 .
Jewel hit the Top 10 with "Intuition."
 Jewel released her next LP, 0304. Jewel said of her new
LP's change of tone: "I've always been
considered a very serious artist . This is my
pop culture record. The world is complicated
and hard, and people want to be able to lose
themselves in the rhythm. People want to feel
young and sexy and smart; and like things are
OK - including me. That is the only image I
had writing these songs. This is a happy
record."
Jewel topped the Billboard Hot
Dance Music/Club Play chart for a week with
the remixes of "Intuition."
0304 was certified gold.
 Jewel cancelled her planned fall
tour after her touring bassist, Terome
'T-Bone' Hannon died from a brain aneurysm at
the age of 39.
Jewel hit the Top 40 with "Stand."
Jewel won a Radio Music Awards
for Best Hook Up Song ("Intuition").
 Jewel topped the Billboard Hot
Dance Music Club Play chart for a week with
the remixes of "Stand."
Jewel appeared on the NBC TV
series The Lyon's Den.
 Jewel released the DVD Live
At Humphrey's By The Bay.
# 59 on the Top Pop Artists
of the Past 25 Years chart.
 Jewel performed on ReAct
Now: Music & Relief - a benefit
program shown on music video channels to
raise money for those affected by Hurricane
Katrina.
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