The inspiring story of singer Jewel. From homeless to pop superstar

Pop superstar Jewel has recently shared her journey in the music industry, and her story comes nothing short of inspiring. From being a homeless and battling an almost deadly kidney infection, Jewel went on to become a successful singer-songwriter. This is her inspiring story.

Jewel was born in Alaska and she came into contact with music when she was singing with her father in bars so as to make money.

“I’m sort of what people would call a junk bond kid. Nobody would invest in me. As a human, as a child. My mom left when I was eight. My dad had a lot of trauma from his own childhood, and then went to Vietnam and picked up a lot more trauma. And when my mom left, he suddenly found himself a single father and was incredibly anxious, and turned to drinking to try and calm that anxiety, and he became abusive when I was eight,” she said.

Aged 15, Jewel decided to take life into her own hands, so she took a chance, moved out and pursued a career. This would not be easy for her, though.

“I did pretty good for the three years. I got myself through school, I graduated, I paid rent, I worked jobs. And then when I was 18, I was living in San Diego to take care of my mother who was sick, and a boss propositioned me, and when he wouldn’t – when I didn’t sleep with him, he fired me without giving me my paycheck. And I couldn’t pay my rent that month, and we got kicked out. Started living in my car, thinking it would only last a couple months. But then the car I was living in got stolen,” she said.

She said that being homeless was a very “dehumanizing” for her. “It’s very dehumanizing to be homeless. It was in San Diego, which is a nicer place to be homeless, I guess, than Alaska or Chicago, or something like that, where it’s really cold,” she said. “It was pleasant weather, at least, which was nice and made that easier. But you’re really reduced to being animals. You worry about food, shelter, safety, and water 24/7. You’re an animal. You’re just stuck on survive,” she detailed.

The surprising thing is that even though she was homeless, it was around that time that she was discovered by major record labels and thus she had a chance at breaking through.

“The record labels didn’t realize that I was homeless. A bootleg of mine ended up on the radio, and all these labels started coming down. It was like being Cinderella in the pumpkin. I was offered a million-dollar signing bonus,” she explains.

She turned the offer down, but it later proved to save her career. “I was going to make a folk record at the height of grunge. I knew it probably wouldn’t be successful. And I cared about my authenticity much more than I cared about being famous or rich. I wanted the opportunity to do something I loved everyday, and I knew with my emotional baggage, my baggage and my background, if you add fame into the mix, it should lead to just self-implosion and self-destruction,” she explained.

Jewel went on and got nominated for four Grammy Awards and sold over 30 million albums worldwide.