Aban*doned by her mother, she became homeless as a teenager & stole food to survive—now she’s a famous singer
After her father mistreated her, the star fled her home. Even after she entered the music business, life presented her with several problems as she struggled to live. This singer grew up in a family that treasured tradition. However, her mother’s abandonment of the household forced her to take care of herself as a teenager.
When she was eight years old, Lenedra Carroll, the star’s mother, aban*doned her, her brothers, and their father, Atz Kilcher. From then on, life at home took a gloomy turn.
“I grew up in a regular Mormon family. But everything changed when my mother departed. My father began drinking and becoming physically vio*lent, such as striking us, which led me to leave out,” she stated. “He was in a lot of rage and did a lot of yelling.”
Years of agony ensued, but at the age of 15, she could no longer bear the savagery. She fled the family house and began living alone in a hut, relying on thievery to survive.
Life in the cabin had been difficult, but her next chapter presented fresh challenges. In 1993, at the age of 19, she relocated to San Diego in search of a new beginning and a career in music. In another interview, she stated, “I began paying rent and worked a few jobs in town, traveling to work. It felt good.”
However, the sensation of control did not persist. She lost her job after refusing her boss’s unwanted attentions. Things rapidly escalated. The Utah native explains:
“I ended up homeless because I wouldn’t have sex with a boss. I started living in my car because my boss wouldn’t give me my paycheck. Then my car got stolen.”
“It was a brutal age, but the Hells Angels were actually incredibly protective of me. But there’s still vio*lence,” she said. Anxiety, panic attacks, and health problems such as renal difficulty and agoraphobia plagued her throughout those years.
“Although it was a brutal age, the Hells Angels were surprisingly protective of me; however, violence still exists,” she said. Anxiety, panic attacks, and health problems such as renal difficulty and agoraphobia plagued her throughout those years.
Fame brings its type of harshness. “I was called the chubby Renée Zellweger,” the singer revealed” The humiliation exacerbated a long-standing conflict. “I was bulimic,” she explained. “I wasn’t pleased with my weight. I didn’t know how to mend it other than loving myself. I was trying to enjoy what I was eating rather than losing more weight or getting worse.”
She opted to take a break after her 1998 album “Spirit” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts. Taking time off, she stated, was an “act of power.” “I had to learn how to deal with male egos and turn them down in a way that would not jeopardize my job. It’s dreadful. Nobody should have to learn it, and it didn’t always work,” she explained.
Navigating the music industry was fraught with pressure, criticism, and secret struggles—but the anguish didn’t end when the limelight shone. Behind the accomplishment was someone still struggling to understand her background. She carried significant anguish throughout her early adulthood, which she rarely recognized. Every day seemed like survival, with mental and physical responsibilities obscuring her way. She stated in an interview:
“It’s not that I was sitting there thinking of taking my own life. I never had a psychotic break. [But] I was thinking, ‘Is this tenable?’ If this is the rest of my life… who wants that?”
The doubts she held forced her to pick a new path forward, one devoid of the pain of her past. She went home with one objective in mind: to heal rather than to hate. The celebrity shared:
“I was determined to heal: to let go, move on and figure out how I could be the one who changed those habits.”
Without therapy or strong familial ties, she relied on mindfulness and meditation. These skills eventually formed part of her work with at-risk youngsters through the Inspiring Children Foundation and her website, JewelNeverBroken.com.
“I didn’t have access to therapy,” she explained. “I didn’t even have a family, really.” She and her father—who appeared in “Alaska: The Last Frontier”—were “able to reunite over time. “He got sober and did this amazing inner work,” she told me. “We have a really authentic, great relationship now, but it’s because he did his work, and I did my work.”
Rebuilding her connection with her father was a watershed moment, but the star’s path to peace had begun much earlier—far before her voice ever reached the stage.
Jewel, known for her intensely emotional compositions and genuine honesty, rose to prominence in 1995 with her debut album, “Pieces of You,” on Atlantic Records. At the age of 19, she started playing in coffee cafes, following a dream with only her guitar and lyrics.
She once said that as a fourth-grader, she would leave school and go straight to a bar. She witnessed how grownups reacted to suffering, using relationships, drugs, and alcohol to numb their feelings. Even at that young age, she saw the danger and thought to herself, “I’m in trouble.”
She quickly realized she couldn’t run away from what had injured her. Instead, she started writing down her ideas to get some relief. “[Writing] was my first mindfulness practice,” she revealed in another interview. “I noticed every time I sat down to write, I felt calmer, I felt less anxiety, and it took the edge off just enough.”
The singer’s practice of writing became more than simply an outlet; it signaled the start of a more profound journey to rehabilitation. Over time, she realized that, while music was strong, it was not the main cause of her metamorphosis.
Her concentration, she subsequently revealed, had always been on relieving emotional distress rather than merely producing music. Although music played a significant role in her healing, it was not the primary catalyst for change. She thought that mindfulness required more than just silent times.
“Meditation alone will not change your life,” the four-time Grammy nominee stated in another interview. To her, it was about bringing conscious awareness into action.
Jewel thought that meaningful change necessitated action. In her opinion, rewiring detrimental behaviors or making healthy choices required doing real things every day, rather than just thinking about it. For the songwriter, mending entailed transforming awareness into everyday activity.
That daily endeavor to live with meaning also shaped how she conducted life away from the limelight. Even in her personal life, Jewel remained focused on growth and intention.
She was married to rodeo champion and actor Ty Murray from 2008 to 2014, and they had one kid named Kase. Although their marriage dissolved, they fought hard to keep their relationship calm for their child’s sake, which she confessed was difficult.
“This is work. I don’t want people to believe it’s easy; it takes effort to do this because you don’t get divorced when things are going great,” she explained. “But it’s letting those things live in the past.”
Her path through parenting, personal growth, and love continued to unfold—always on her terms. In a 2024 interview, Jewel stated that she felt more fulfilled than ever .
“I’m more inspired now than I’ve ever been in my life. The most since I was like 19 or 20 years old.”
Like her younger self, who had a romantic relationship with Sean Penn, she refuses to let others define her. When asked about speculations concerning Kevin Costner, she clarified that her happiness is not based on any individual.
“I discovered love, and I am not talking about Kevin’s. I’m overjoyed, regardless of the man. It has nothing to do with being in or out of a relationship,” the music star remarked, declining to elucidate further. She stressed her satisfaction, well aware of the public’s curiosity. The love she openly expresses today is the type she spent years seeking: one that came from inside. “I’m good,” Jewel said.
Jewel’s rise from a rough beginning to international stardom was defined by adversity, healing, and personal development. She converted her suffering into meaning by writing, playing music, and practicing mindfulness.
Despite the difficulties, she maintained a close relationship with her father and is committed to her kid. Her success is based on inner strength, not public praise or personal relationships. Today, she is grounded, fulfilled, and at peace with herself.