The New York Times - Louder: The Sheryl Crow You Never Knew

April 29, 2022

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

Sheryl Crow’s music has been so ubiquitous since the ’90s, sometimes I’d be surprised when I’d mention elements of her biography and see confused looks on people’s faces: Wait, she was a backup singer for Michael Jackson? On the “Bad” tour!? And she called her first album “Tuesday Night Music Club” after the loose jam session she joined? And then they had a bitter dispute over authorship after a “Letterman” appearance, someone connected to the group died by suicide, she was devastated but went on to produce her next album by herself … and that’s just 1992 to 1996.

Crow has had an unusual career, marked by crushing ruptures and her incredible resiliency in the face of them; she’s faced depression, questions about authenticity, confusion over how to market her music, tabloid focus on her personal life, breast cancer and all the dilemmas that accompany being a woman in the music industry. Through it all, the constant is the music: so many satisfying hits, and so many songs lurking on her track lists that could have been singles, too.

She is the subject of the Showtime documentary “Sheryl,” directed by Amy Scott, that arrives on May 6. As she prepared for the world to see that story, Crow spent a generous amount of time with me at her home studio in Nashville and on video chat, which helped me see clearly what a vital role she plays as a connector of rock’s past and future. (The youngest artist who wanted to comment about her influence? Soccer Mommy, 24. The oldest? Willie Nelson, 89. And Stevie Nicks told me way more than could fit in this story, but it was all gold.) It’s online here, and on the cover of Arts & Leisure on Sunday.

Also this week: Jon Pareles talks with the Mexican singer-songwriter Carla Morrison about how opening herself up to going pop helped ease her anxiety; Isabelia Herrera reviews Kehlani’s new album; Jon Caramanica leads a conversation about Machine Gun Kelly on Popcast; and Melena Ryzik interviews Sarah Silverman about her show “The Bedwetter,” which became a musical when Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger read her memoir, “and decided that chapter headings like ‘My Nana Was Great but Now She’s Dead’ and ‘Hymen, Goodbyemen,’ were the seeds of great comic songs.” Yet another reason to miss Schlesinger, a great artist who died in April 2020. (Also: RIP Cynthia Plaster Caster.)

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The Sheryl Crow You Never Knew

For decades, the singer-songwriter carved her own path while battling sexism in the music industry and personal darkness. Now, at 60, she’s telling her story in a new documentary.

By Caryn Ganz

FEATURES

Carla Morrison Wasn’t Afraid to Go Pop. It Helped Conquer Her Anxiety.

With her first album in five years, the Mexican songwriter embraces a new sound, and sings bluntly about her struggles.

By Jon Pareles

The Brazilian Jazz Great Flora Purim Has Many Stories to Tell

The musician, now 80, looks back at her time with Chick Corea and Carlos Santana as she prepares to release her first album in 17 years.

By Brad Farberman

Sarah Silverman’s Family Show (Really!) About Divorce and Depression

“Everything’s couched with hard jokes, but it’s also vulnerable,” the comic said of “The Bedwetter,” her new musical comedy.

By Melena Ryzik

THE CRITICS & POPCAST

Album Review

Kehlani’s Journey of Healing

On “Blue Water Road,” the singer infuses confessional lyrics with newfound emotional clarity.

By Isabelia Herrera

The Playlist

Sam Smith’s Ode to Self-Acceptance, and 10 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Regina Spektor, Tokischa, Wilco and others.

By Jon Pareles, Isabelia Herrera, Giovanni Russonello and Lindsay Zoladz

Machine Gun Kelly’s Pop-Punk Pivot

After decreasing returns in the hip-hop world, the musician and actor stepped into a revival that had roots in SoundCloud rap, and a champion in Travis Barker.

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Reconsidering the Spice Girls: How Manufactured Girl Power Became Real

Even as the girl group topped the charts, it was dismissed as a pop confection. Twenty-five years later, its legacy is still being written.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta and Jennifer Harlan

The New York Times

Hidden in a Fire Island House, the Soundtrack of Love and Loss

In tragedy, music provided solace during the AIDS epidemic, and newly discovered cassette tapes captured two decades of parties and pain.

By T.M. Brown

Composers Give New Shape to Ornette Coleman’s Jazz

A group of artists are reimagining the 1959 album “The Shape of Jazz to Come” for Bang on a Can’s Long Play festival.

By Seth Colter Walls

OBITUARIES

José Luis Cortés, Trailblazing Cuban Bandleader, Dies at 70

He was trained in the classics and jazz, but he helped popularize a new, danceable genre known as timba.

By Neil Genzlinger

Cynthia Albritton, Rock’s ‘Plaster Caster,’ Is Dead at 74

She gained fame making sculptures of male rockers’ genitals, an attention-getting gimmick that she grew to regard as art and that became part of rock ’n’ roll lore.

By Neil Genzlinger

Klaus Schulze, Pioneering Electronic Composer, Is Dead at 74

In a prolific career spanning five decades, he helped pave the way for ambient, techno and trance music.

By Jon Pareles

Chris Bailey, Who Gave Australia Punk Rock, Dies at 65

His band, the Saints, introduced the country (and the world) to their raw sound just as the Sex Pistols were emerging in London and the Ramones in New York.

By Clay Risen