Sheryl Crow on new music, country living and 10 years cancer-free
by Kelli Hill
When Sheryl Crow was diagnosed with stage I breast cancer 10 years ago, the 9-time Grammy winner says she vividly remembers the day she was told of her diagnosis.
“They called and said we found something that is suspect, scheduled to come back in six months.” Crow explained. “My primary care doctor called and said ‘My mother is going through breast cancer treatment, do not wait six months, it could be the difference between stage 0 or stage II.’”
Crow credits that mammogram and early detection for saving her life. Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric sat down with the singer to talk about the importance of early detection for breast cancer, her life in Nashville and her two upcoming albums.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Crow has teamed up with Hologic, the company that manufactures Genius 3D mammography, to spread the word about early detection.
“We have this great opportunity, seize the moment, of having an early diagnosis, which is our best case for prevention, our best weapon.” Crow said. “I’m constantly encouraging women from age 40 on to get your yearly mammo. And now, one of the great things about working with Hologic, which is what I loved about it, is the technology aspect. Now we can look at it in slices, like a book, and look at it in a tiny, finite way.”
Genius 3D mammography represents an advancement in technology, but it does not replace a breast ultrasound in conjunction with the test, especially for women with dense breasts. Crow says she is one of those women; she gets an ultrasound along with the mammogram.
After Crow’s breast cancer diagnosis in 2006, she made some changes in her personal life. She bought a farm near Nashville three weeks after she was diagnosed, and has been living in there ever since. She also decided to start a family and adopted her first son, Wyatt, in 2007. “I realized I don’t have to define myself by what other people expect of my life,” Crow said. “I was at a point in my life where I felt like there were so many kids coming in, I would be a great mom for any child. So I just thought I’m going open the adoption process and we’ll see what happens. And within in a year, I had Wyatt.” Crow adopted her second son, Levi, in 2010.
Crow has also been busy working on two new albums at her home studio in Nashville. One of the albums, which she hopes will be released before Christmas, is a collaboration with some of her favorite artists. “This album was just a venture of love and a desire to feel joy while I was recording,” she said. “Stevie Wonder is getting ready to record. Stevie Nicks has recorded. Neil Young and Don Henley have recorded a song with me. Keith Richards, Kris Kristofferson, it’s just a phenomenal bunch of people.” The second album is a band project with her longtime writing partner and friend, Jeff Trott, and could be released as early as spring of 2017.
The singer also weighed in on the 2016 presidential election, even though she says she has been very quiet about it. “I am supporting Hillary Clinton because I fear for the future of our nation in the world scope of things.” Crow continued, “I also fear for the kind of vernacular that we’re creating now in political campaigns and I would like to see everything calm itself, become a little more logical, a little more reasonable, and then I think we need to address some real problems in this nation in a logical way.”
