Deluxe Version
FEATURE STORY
the music & passion of
JEWEL Written By Allison Kugel Photographed By Dana Trippe
The first thing
I noticed when I sat downithJewelwasherbeautifulysculpted cheekbones and trademark smile, but I was instantly redirected toward her glow, a warm and welcoming glow emanating from that same place where, no doubt, her poetic music and lyrics originate. I wanted to learn e.mor It hasn’t been easy for Jewel, the daughter of a single father who experienced post-Vietnam PTSD and self-medicated with alcohol. The impoverished father/daughter duo knocked around bars in Jewel’s home state of »laska, cronig just to barely pay the bils. On her own, by the age of fifteen, escaping an abusive home enonmenvir t, the multi platinum, multi-award-winning artist poured her pain, anxiety, depression, and confusion into some of the most lyrically potenan t dwidellisty enedtheo musicofthe past two and a half decades. She became a music icon in the process.
Discovered in a Southern California coffee house with little more than her guitar, Jewel would go on to sell more than thirty million albums, and it all started with her 1995 breakout album, Pieces of You, which just celebrated its 25th-anniversary last year. Hits likeStandingStil,Hands,WhWi o Sav l eYour Soul, You Were Meant for Me, and Intuio eflect r Jewel’s evolutinary inward journey and continue to resonate worldwide across many cultures. It’s no wonder The Voice producer, Mark Burnett, calls Jewel “One of thegreatestsinger-songwritersinhst.”ory No,w the forty-seven-year-old mother of one has devoted much of her public platform to mental health advocacy and what she gleefuly calls her ongoing practice of “being consciously present” with her experiences. NeverokenBr , Times bestselling memoir and nod to her
hit song, Hands, offers free mindfulness and mental health eso r ces ur and what she efer r s as to ‘actionableexercises.’the» sametime, her second annual World Mental Health Day Sumit and Concert tok place virtually on Sunday, October 10th, at TheWellnessExperience.com. Jewel’s much anticipated upcoming album eew Fr heelin’ Woman, which eflect r s her personal and musical evolutin of “being on this side of life,” as she lovingly calls her cuenr t chapter, wil be elr eased in Spring 2022. Shop the 25th anniversary deluxe edition of Jewel’s 1995 album, Pieces of You. Jewel’s Inspiring Children Foundation provides young people and adults the tools to manage anxiety.
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EXTENDED Q&A CONTENT: Hear the extended interview with Jewel on the Allison Interviews Podcast. Allison Kugel is a syndicated entertainment journalist and host of the Allison Interviews podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Follow her on Instagram @theallisonkugel.
JEWEL’S INSPIRING CHILDREN FOUNDATION PROVIDES YOUNG PEOPLE & ADULTS THE TOOLS TO MANAGE ANXIETY.. For nearly two decades, Jewel’s Inspiring Children Foundation (ICF) , co-founded with Ryan Wolfington and Marty Hennessy, has been empowering children struggling with financial hardship, anxiet,y depression, and suicidal ideation by giving them the ultimate enonmenvir t to survie, then thrive at the highest levels. The award-winning program has been duplicated in 2 cities, and its home base is atenLor zi ParkinLasVegas. With teenage suicide up 70% and anxiety and depression doubling(nevow enworsedueCOVI to D),theyhavebeenat thefoefr r ontfhelpingtosolvethisepidemic.
Theprogramarmsat-riskevwithyou erythingtheyneedto be physical,ly emotinal,ly and mentally healthy in a fun and inspirational way, both onlie and in-person, at enLor zi Park andCraigRanchParkinNorthLasVegas. This ecosystem of excellence includes programs that em phasize the need for: emotinal intelligence, SEL, mindful ness/meditation,DBT,Traumatherapy/informedcare,group counseling and mentoring, leadership development, entrepreneur skils, nutrio, yoga, ecr r eational and high-perfor mance tennis, sports, sleep science, and academics. In addition,80%ofoperationsareby run thechildrenChildr. engain ,know-h an understanding of themselves, and confidence byearnigtheirwayeal inour -life“project-drivenlearnig” volunteer program.
Our young leaders have been so academical,ly athletical,ly andpersonaldev ly elopedthat95%havebeenofferedschol arships and admissions into the best coleges in the world, including Stanfod, r The ce -For »i »cadem,y Harvard, Princ eton, Yale, Geoget r own, University of Pennsylvania – Whar ton Schol of Business, own,Br Dartmouh, Wiliams, UNLV, Columbia, Naval »cadem,y USC, Vanderbilt and 100 e.mor But, most importan,tly these children are being armed with a “psycholgy for life” that helps them generate their own motivation, peace of mind, and contentment as self-actual ized leaders.
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