Jewel Kilcher - Eric Ogden Photoshoot

Jewel Kilcher (born May 23, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, poet and philanthropist, generally known just by her first name, Jewel. She has received three Grammy Award nominations. Jewel was born in Payson, Utah to Atz Kilcher, of Swiss-German origin, and Lenedra Carroll of Irish descent. She is the cousin of actress Q'Orianka Kilcher. She spent most of her young life in Homer, Alaska, living with her father. The home she grew up in did not have indoor plumbing; it had a simple outhouse instead. She and her father sometimes earned a living by singing in bars and taverns. It was from these experiences she learned to yodel, a quality demonstrated in many of her songs. Her father was a Mormon, but they stopped attending the church shortly before she turned eight. Yule Kilcher, her grandfather, was a state senator involved in drafting Alaska's constitution for its admission into a state from a territory in 1959 During high school, Jewel was known to spell her name "Jule" or "Juel," but she attributes this to simply playing with her name. Jewel learned to play the guitar while on scholarship at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, where she majored in operatic voice. She started writing songs at the age of seventeen.