American singer-songwriter, musician, actress, and poet Jewel has a $14 million dollar net worth. When she was barely 21 years old, the formerly homeless singer wrote and recorded “Pieces of You,” her debut album, which went on to sell more than 15 million copies globally.
She has 12 studio albums under her belt, and they have helped her win more than 20 awards and sold over 30 million copies. In addition, Jewel has had appearances in a number of movies and television shows, including “Ride with the Devil” (1999), “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” (2007), and “Ring of Fire” (2013).
From 2007 to 2008, Jewel served as a judge on “Nashville Star.” Known for her literary prowess, Jewel is the author of “A Night Without Armor” (1998), “Chasing Down the Dawn” (2000), and “Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story” (2015).
Early Years
In Payson, Utah, on May 23, 1974, Jewel Kilcher was born. She was reared in a Mormon family in Anchorage, Alaska, together with her mother Lenedra, father Attila (also known as Atz Kilcher), older brother Shane, and younger brother Atz Jr. The family eventually left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Lenedra and Atz got divorced in 1981. Niko, who is Atz’s child from a previous relationship, is Jewel’s other half-brother.
Jewel was raised by Atz in Homer, Alaska, following their divorce, where she lived without indoor plumbing and occasionally played music with her father, who taught her how to yodel, in pubs and hotels in the area.
Jewel received a partial scholarship and went to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan to study operatic voice and guitar. After graduating, she relocated to San Diego, California, where she lived in her car and performed in bars and coffee shops.
Career
In 1993, while performing at The Inner Change coffee shop in San Diego, Jewel was found by Inga Vainshtein. After speaking with Danny Goldberg of Atlantic Records, Vainshtein secured funding for Jewel to record a demo. The album “Pieces of You,” which was certified 12 times platinum in the U.S. and is one of the best-selling debuts in music history, was released in 1995 after Inga took over as Jewel’s manager.
It features the songs “Who Will Save Your Soul,” “Foolish Games,” and “You Were Meant for Me.” With 11 more studio albums, including “Spirit” (1998), “Goodbye Alice in Wonderland” (2006), and “Picking Up the Pieces,” Jewel followed up her spectacular debut (2015).
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In 1998, Jewel released “A Night Without Armor,” her debut book, which became a “New York Times” best-seller, and performed the national anthem during Super Bowl XXXII. She appeared in Ang Lee’s “Ride with the Devil” the following year and released her autobiography, “Chasing Down the Dawn,” in 2000.
After Atlantic decided not to renew her contract, Jewel joined Valory Records and had an appearance as herself in the parody movie “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” in 2007. “Perfectly Clear,” a country album she released in 2008, debuted at the top of the “Billboard” Country Album Chart. After breaking both of her tibias, Jewel was forced to withdraw from “Dancing with the Stars” in 2009.
She played June Carter Cash in the Lifetime film “Ring of Fire” in 2013, and in 2015, she published a new biography titled “Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story.” Jewel produced and starred in “Concrete Evidence: A Fixer Upper Mystery,” “Framed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery,” and “Deadly Deed: A Fixer Upper Mystery” on the Hallmark Channel in 2017 and 2018.
She has made appearances in a number of TV shows, such as “7th Heaven” (2007), “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (2008), and the “Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe” (2016).
Work in Charity
With her mother and older brother, Jewel founded the nonprofit organization Higher Ground for Humanity in 1999. In 2006, Jewel participated in Lifetime’s “Stop Breast Cancer for Life” campaign, delivering petitions to Capitol Hill with 12 million signatures in support of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005.
Jewel served as the honorary chairman of the Help the Homeless Walk in Washington, D.C. in 2006, and in 2008, she auctioned off her original song lyrics to benefit Project Clean Water. In 2013, Jewel served as an ambassador for ReThink: Why Housing Matters and made an appearance in the campaign’s PSA.
Personal Life
Sean Penn, an actor, asked Jewel to create a song for his 1995 film “The Crossing Guard” after seeing her on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” After dating for ten years, she wed rodeo cowboy Ty Murray on August 7, 2008, and on July 11, 2011, their son Kase was born. The couple divorced in 2014.
Jewel has made multiple appearances on the Discovery Channel program “Alaska: The Last Frontier,” which features her father and a large number of other relatives. Previously, Jewel’s mother managed her business; however, since learning that Lenedra had stolen millions of dollars from her and left her in debt in 2003, Jewel and her mother have been estranged.
Honors and Awards
Early in her career, Jewel won a number of San Diego Music Awards, including Album of the Year in 1995, Artist of the Year in 1995 and 1996, and Best Acoustic in 1994. She won three awards in 1997: the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video, the Billboard Music Award for Top Adult Top 40 Artist, and the American Music Award for Favorite New Artist (for “You Were Meant for Me”).
In 1999, Jewel won a BMI Pop Award, a Blockbuster Entertainment Award, a Governor’s Awards Songwriting Award, and an Audie Award for Best Spoken Word Album (for “A Night Without Armor”). She has also received three ASCAP Pop Music Awards, a Radio Music Award, and an MVPA Award (1999 and 2004).
Real Estate
Jewel and Ty received $1.4 million for their 1,781-square-foot Hollywood Hills residence in 2009. In addition, the ex-couple possessed a $1.3 million property in Nashville, Tennessee, which Jewel acquired, and a 2,200-acre cattle ranch in Stephenville, Texas, which they bought in 2007 and sold for $335,000 in 2016.