THE SONG
THAT GOT ME
THROUGH A
DIFFICULT TIME
WAS... Love’s In
Need Of Love
Today by Stevie
Wonder
On the tour where I got
to hang out with Prince
and Pink Floyd, I’d been
through the highest
of highs. When I came
home, I went back
to waiting tables. It
was a hard time, but this
song seemed to lift me
out. I played it over
and over. I love so many
Stevie Wonder songs,
but this one still does it
for me; when things are
not as they should be,
it fills me with hope
and aspiration.THE SONG THAT
SHAPED MY
CHILDHOOD
WAS... Fire
And Rain by
James Taylor
I grew up in a house full
of music and musicians,
and this song was
constantly on. There were
four of us kids, and we all
took piano lessons.
I could play by ear and so
could my older sister, and
we both gravitated to this
song. Our parents [mother
Bernice, a piano teacher,
and father Wendell,
a lawyer and trumpet
player] introduced us to
all sorts of music, so we
heard everything from
Elvis to Aretha Franklin,
and Carole King. It’s
a time I remember really
happily. This was pre-
cable TV, pre-home video,
so we spent a lot of time
outdoors with the radio,
then a CD player. Fire
And Rain was like
our soundtrack.THE SONG
GUARANTEED TO
GET ME ON THE
DANCEFLOOR IS...
Love Train by
The O’Jays
When I was 18, my friends
and I would drive from my
home town [in Kennett,
Missouri] to Tennessee,
across the Mississippi
River and the state line,
because the drinking age
was 18 there and we could
get into the disco. Love
Train had a great groove!
Partying these days is
very different, but I’m
lucky I still get to lead a
‘young’ life. My kids
are young so I’m seeing
everything for the first
time through their eyes,
but I’m also still in a band.
I hang out with my
bandmates, and after we
go on stage and play, we
drink beers, listen to
music, and watch
YouTube videos! It’s
a pretty nice life.THE SONG I’D
LIKE TO BE
REMEMBERED FOR
IS... If It Makes
You Happy
Before I became
well-known, a lot of
people in my life had
been rooting for me, but
when I became [famous],
they stopped. It was a
case of overexposure.
When I went into the
studio to make my second
album, Sheryl Crow,
which features If It Makes
You Happy, I was pretty
fried, so it’s a direct
response to all the people
who didn’t believe in me.
It was inspired by the
naysayers who couldn’t
be happy, for me at least,
at the time. Friends should
be there for each other
when things are really bad
and really good. People
who try to bring you down
do it because it makes
them feel better about
themselves. I’ve learned
that you have to stay
in your lane and keep
your eyes on the prize.Sheryl’s album Threads
w i l l b e o u t o n 3 0 t h Au g u s tPH
O
TO
GR
AP
HY
:^ D
OV
E^ S
HO
RE
.^ A
DD
ITI
O
NA
L^ P
HO
TO
GR
AP
HY
:^ G
ET
TY
,^ S
HU
TT
ER
ST
OC
K
57
August 2019 | REDONLINE.CO.UK