Jewel Kilcher born May 23, , mononymously known as Jewel , is an American singer-songwriter. She has been nominated for four Grammy Awards and has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of Jewel was raised near Homer, Alaska , where she grew up singing and yodeling as a musical duo with her father, Atz Kilcher , a local musician. At age fifteen, she received a partial scholarship to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, where she studied operatic voice.
After graduating, she began writing and performing at clubs and coffeehouses in San Diego , California. One of the best-selling debut albums of all time, it went times platinum. Singles " You Were Meant for Me " and " Foolish Games " reached number two on the Hot , and were listed on Billboard 's year-end singles chart , as well as Billboard ' s year-end singles chart. Jewel's sophomore effort, Spirit , was released in , followed by This Way In , she released , which marked a departure from her previous folk-oriented records, featuring electronic arrangements and elements of dance-pop.
In , Jewel released her first independent album, Lullaby. In , Jewel released a collection of poetry , and the following year appeared in a supporting role in Ang Lee 's Western film Ride with the Devil which earned her critical acclaim. Shortly after Jewel's birth, her family relocated to Anchorage, Alaska , settling on the Kilcher family's acre ha homestead.
Recalling her upbringing, she said:. We had to walk 2 miles 3. No running water, no heatβwe had a coal stove and an outhouse and we mainly lived off of what we could kill or can. We picked berries and made jam. We caught fish to freeze and had gardens and cattle to live on. I rode horses every day in the summer beneath the Alaskan midnight sun. I loved it there. According to Jewel, the first song she learned to sing was " Saint Louis Blues ".
At age fifteen, while working at a dance studio in Anchorage, she was referred by the studio instructor to Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan , where she applied and received a partial scholarship to study operatic voice.
