Jewel Biography

Jewel Kilcher (born May 23, 1974) is a singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and author, generally known just by her first name, Jewel. Her albums are successful in Europe, Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada, and Australia as well as in the United States.

Jewel was born in Payson, Utah to German-speaking immigrants from Switzerland: Atz Kilcher and Lenedra Carroll. She spent most of her young life in Homer, Alaska, living with her father. The home she grew up in did not have indoor plumbing; it had a simple outhouse instead. She and her father sometimes earned a living by singing in bars and taverns. It was from these experiences she learned to yodel, a quality demonstrated in many of her songs. Her father was a Mormon, but they stopped attending the church shortly before she turned eight.

During high school, Jewel was known to spell her name "Jule" or "Juel", but she attributes this to simply playing with her name, as teenagers are prone to do.

Jewel learned to play the guitar while on scholarship at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, where she majored in operatic voice. She started writing songs at the age of seventeen.

For a time, she was poverty-stricken and lived in her van while traveling about the country busking and doing small gigs. She gained some recognition by singing at the Innerchange Coffeehouse and Java Joe's in San Diego, California. Her friend Steve Poltz's band, The Rugburns played the same venues. Jewel later collaborated with Poltz on some of her songs, including "You Were Meant For Me." (He also appeared in the second, best-known, video for this song.) The Rugburns opened for Jewel on her Tiny Lights tour in 1997. Poltz appeared in Jewel's band on the Spirit World Tour 1999 playing guitar.

While Jewel has had major success on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts, she has had her biggest chart success on Billboards Adult Top 40 Charts.

Jewel has also had hits in the Dance/Electronic Top 40

1996