I've had mentors who were kind of the troubadour singer-songwriters, like Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and that's just what I've always liked - people who would talk real honestly about their lives and their circumstance.
— Jewel
I consider myself a product of Alaska. The love and the debt that I feel to my home state - you always want your hometown to be the proudest of you, and so it's heartbreaking to hear people say snarky things.
I moved out of home when I was 15.
My fans get passionate about certain songs.
I've always toured solo acoustic.
Like every girl, I felt amazing pressure to look like the popular girls, but no one told me the popular girls were all air brushed in magazines.
Lots of people have gone from public housing to do great things in the world and have a tremendous sense of duty to their fellow man because of it.
I've been writing lullabies since the beginning. I kind of did it for myself to help myself fall asleep when I really worried, like when I was homeless and I'd fall asleep in my car.
I developed a loyal following. No one knew I was homeless.
I've always been a workhorse, and I've been supporting myself since I was 15.
Love bravely, live bravely, be courageous; there's really nothing to lose.
I was really inspired while I was pregnant and I wrote a whole album for my baby. I wanted to write a kids album that didn't annoy parents. I used The Beatles 'Rocky Raccoon' as sort of a starting place for my writing.
I think family mealtime is really important. There's a lot of research that shows kids are going to do better in school and have more self-esteem if you can all sit down and eat together.
I love shows about creating and cooking. Sometimes they're so extraordinary, you end up setting yourself to fail.
I consider myself a product of Alaska. The love and the debt that I feel to my home state, you always want your hometown to be the proudest of you.
I was homeless and I was in San Diego and I started singing in a local coffee shop and people started coming to hear me sing.
Some of my favorite poets had a tremendous sense of whimsy, so it's a writing style I guess I admire.
I don't feel like I've changed as much as radio formats have changed.
I have hundreds and hundreds of songs waiting to get on albums, but I don't know about the three-month radio tours and if I'll be interested in that. I haven't figured it out, but I will definitely be doing music, whether it is independent or with a major record label.
I'm a happy mum. I didn't think it was in the cards for me, so I feel very blessed.
I love touring - I don't do it as often as I should.
I hope that my life ends up being my greatest work of art, not just my music.
I guess I'm a Gemini through and through, but I'm mercurial. I get bored doing the same things.
I'm somebody who, as a child, had a lot of insecurity about stable housing, where I was going to be living, if I was going to have a roof over my head, all those types of things. And I know the impact it can have on you psychologically and emotionally.
If someone is willing to help you understand your own worth when you're vulnerable, that's a very touching thing. It makes you want to help other people.
I think being raised spending so much time outdoors was really important - while you're in it, you might not know, but now I think of the things I was thankful for.
I enjoy hard work; I love setting goals and achieving them.
It's like a garden: Whatever you water the most will do the best. At some point, you decide whether you'll water your career or your relationship more.
I sort of came out at the dawn of the Internet in the mid-90s and I think it helped break my career. I think I was one of the first artists to really benefit from the grassroots swell that can happen online. I don't know if I would have broken out without it.
For now I'm just enjoying being a mom. I don't want to be more famous and more rich. I want to be a good mom.
I'm trying to be in the moment and really enjoy my pregnancy. I feel really lucky.
I have a life that I enjoy; I try and value the things that I think are worth valuing and everything else is icing. You know, it is a kick to go down the red carpet in that dress and then you go back home.
I didn't mean to be a songwriter; I just was writing for fun, you have all day to do it. I was homeless so that's all I had to do.
When we're children we're told love is going to be great: Just fall in love, the rest will take care of itself - and then we fall in love and we realize, Okay, this is actually really, really hard work. This guy doesn't just tell me I'm great every day, you know?
Amazingly, I've been sort of an anomaly in the music industry. I feel like I've been able to exist as kind of a throwback artist.
I would love to write more children's books. There is such a high standard out there for children's books; there are really amazing writers. It is a fantastic creative outlet and such an amazing teaching tool. The thing I love about kids, too, is it is so imaginative and poetic.
There are a lot of things about fame that are not conducive to being curious. It's been important for me to cloister myself off.
Without a band, I'm much more free to improvise.
I was Renee Zellweger's fat doppelganger. If she ever played in a movie where she needed to be fat, apparently I could be her stunt double.
It's really fun to see young kids trying to find excellence in themselves.
I wrote the song 'Angels Standing By'... to try and soothe myself - rock myself to sleep, basically - because I was so scared and stressed.
Hard times make you bitter or make you more compassionate.
My husband and I have kept a good balance between the work and the rest. I feel so lucky having a job, and I know so may people who focus too much on work, and their home lives suffer.
There's no wrong you can't make right again, so be kinder to yourself; you know, have fun, take chances. Those bounds.
I'm the classic absent-minded professor: I'm very focused on something, and meanwhile, I've left the refrigerator door open for hours.
If you write a hit song for Britney Spears, it's worth several million dollars. Just one song! And it might have taken you two hours to do it. It's like mining for gold. It takes a lot of skill and a lot of technique.
I was raised really poor and so was my husband.
I have always been a workaholic.
We must all work together to end youth homelessness in America.
I'm a Gemini and I have a lot of different moods. Sometimes I'm very serious and introspective and pensive, but other times I'm completely goofy and girlie. So, I like my songs to cover all my moods.
