Jewel is standing firm in her independence, emphasizing that she doesn’t need a man to define her. The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, at 49, recently spoke candidly about her romantic journey and encounters with influential men throughout her career as a musician in an interview with People magazine. This conversation preceded the unveiling of her immersive art exhibit, “The Portal: An Art Experience by Jewel,” in Arkansas.
Reflecting on her past relationship with Sean Penn in the mid-’90s, Jewel disclosed that she deliberately kept their romance private to avoid using it as a publicity stunt for her music after the release of her debut album, “Pieces of You.”
She shared, “Even when I was dating Sean really early on, nobody knew I was dating him. I wouldn’t do a red carpet with him. I was just very prideful. I wasn’t famous and my album was flopping — like, failing spectacularly. I remember going to the Venice Film Festival with him, and I could have done the red carpet and received a lot of media attention.”
She continued, “People would’ve said, ‘Who is this girl?’ and I could have plugged my album. But I’d rather be unknown the rest of my life than have that be the way the world was introduced to me. I don’t need fame that badly. I need to be fulfilled. I need to be happy. I need to be a songwriter. I wasn’t thirsty in that way.”
Jewel also reflected on the challenges she faced in her twenties, including instances where she was subjected to sexual advances from her boss and when she found herself homeless after her car was stolen. She has previously spoken openly about experiencing abuse from her father during her childhood and harassment as a young performer.
“It was a violent era, but the Hells Angels actually were very protective over me. But there’s still violence,” she recalled. “It was men in positions of power from TV networks to record labels, and women faced it every day.”
In 2008, Jewel married rodeo star Ty Murray, with whom she shares a son named Kase. However, the couple divorced in 2014, prompting the Alaskan singer to prioritize her role as a parent over her career.
“The divorce wasn’t easy. Choosing not to work for seven years wasn’t easy. Choosing to build something else other than music wasn’t easy,” she confided. “Divorces… you have so much grief, and it’s hard. Not wanting to let go of that dream kept me in a marriage much longer than I probably should have.”
In 2022, Jewel released her first new album in seven years, titled “Freewheelin’ Woman.”
Speaking about her music, she remarked to USA TODAY in that year, “It’s hard to write pop songs that aren’t romantic. I was proud of ‘Intuition’ for that – it delivered a deeper concept wrapped in a pop song. Dancing and singing are my keys to life.”
Now, in 2024, rumors have circulated about a potential romance between Jewel and “Yellowstone” actor Kevin Costner, following his recent divorce from his wife of nearly two decades, Christine Baumgartner. However, Jewel has made it clear that she’s not interested in discussing her personal life in that regard.
“I found love, and I’m not talking about Kevin’s. I’m so happy, irrelevant of a man. It has nothing to do with being in a relationship or not being in one,” she asserted. “I’m more inspired now than I’ve ever been in my life. The most since I was like 19 or 20 years old.”
