If
she
lingers
too
long
thinking
about
the
nearly
t wo
dozen
ar tists
who
showed
up
to
help
create
her
new—
and,
according
to
her,
last—
album,
Threads,
Sheryl
Crow
gets
a
lump
in
her
throat.personality to it. We just went
with the spirit in the room
and hung out for a couple of
days in New York, and it just
was glorious. I mean, I am still
that girl from Kennett, Mis-
souri, who every now and again
has a moment of ‘Oh my God,
I can’t believe that I’m in the
studio with Keith Richards!’ ”Story of Everything
featuring Chuck D, Andra Day,
and Gary Clark Jr.
This slice of Sly Stone-evoking
protest funk may be the hottest
thing on Threads thanks to the
fiery trio. “I’ve known Chuck
a long time and I think he’s one
of the great American poets,”
says Crow of the Public Enemy
frontman. “He was so gener-
ous. We sent it to him and he
fired it right back, he was so into
it.” As for Day, Crow reached
out after hearing the up-and-
comer was a fan of her music.It felt really sweet to invite
Maren into this club because
I think she’s going to have a
long career. She’s a great song-
writer and a great little rocker.”The Worst
featuring Keith Richards
“We definitely didn’t want to
try to re-create the Stones’
version of it,” says Crow of this
gorgeously wistful Voodoo
Lounge cover, on which Rich-
ards played every instrument
(save drums and Wurlitzer).
“He just totally brought hisdreaming of playing music.
“I’m just filled with gratitude
and awe.”
The watershed release fea-
tures a mix of new originals
and favorite covers (she also
hopes to pair the record with
a documentary about its
making). As the title suggests,
Threads connects the nine-
time Grammy winner with
three sets of compatriots.
There are the artists who
helped shape her hybrid sound,
among them Mavis Staples,
James Taylor, Stevie Nicks,
Eric Clapton, and Willie
Nelson. There are the peers
whose careers roughly parallel
her own, rising in the late
’80s and early ’90s and finding
their own critical and com-
mercial acclaim and distinct
voices, like Vince Gill and
Chuck D of Public Enemy.
And finally there are musicians
such as St. Vincent, Maren
Morris, Andra Day, Jason
Isbell, and Brandi Carlile who
arrived in Crow’s wake and
have taken inspiration from
the 57-year-old’s formidable
catalog of albums and
long string of hits, including
“If It Makes You Happy,”
“My Favorite Mistake,” and
“Strong Enough.”
Though the Steve Jordan-
produced Threads will be
Crow’s final album, given the
vagaries of the music industry,
she says she will continue
to record. For now, she breaks
down five of the most notable
collaborations on her full-
length swan song.Prove You Wrong
featuring Stevie Nicks
and Maren Morris
“There is no way I could do an
album and not have Stevie on
it. She is my main woman,”
says Crow of this sassy number
that throws shade at a mis-
guided lover. “She is one of my
dearest friends, and I know if
I called her in the middle of the
night and said, ‘Help!’ she’d
be there in a matter of seconds.“It’s very emotional for me
knowing that this is the culmi-
nation of not only 30 years [in
the business], but also it goes
back to my literally lying under
the piano studying all the
records that inspired me to do
what I’m doing,” says Crow,
reflecting on her younger self
growing up in Missouri and
↑ Brandi Carlile and Sheryl Crow on stage in Kansas City in 2008