From homelessness to houshold name: How Jewel found strength in her tragedy

Jewel was homeless by age 18, hitchhiking across the country and learning to play the guitar

UPDATED MAY 29, 2023

Jewel grew up in a poor household on a homestead in Alaska, which is said to have no running water (Duane Prokop/Getty Images)

SPEEDWAY, INDIANA: Fans were left baffled during the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, after pop and country music star Jewel performed ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ to the crowd but with her unique take on it. And this left many upset with one saying, “This is the perfect example of how not to do the national anthem. It was to the point of being disrespectful.”

Another wrote, "I’m sorry, but the National Anthem should NEVER, be changed up like this. Good artist, bad choice!" The 49-year-old artist was named the anthem singer earlier this month, reports Fox News, who was homeless at a point in her life.

Jewel drops inspiring single 'Grateful' on overcoming anxiety, fans say it is what they needed to lift spirits

This is the perfect example of how not to do the national anthem. It was to the point of being disrespectful. https://t.co/LAVSt1YZ6x
— Jacob 🇺🇸🏁 (@JacobRE1996) May 28, 2023

I’m sorry, but the National Anthem should NEVER, be changed up like this. Good artist, bad choice!
— TG MOMMA LAURA (@gmommalaura) May 28, 2023

Jewel lived as a homeless teenager

Jewel, a singer from Utah, released her debut album, 'Pieces of You,' in February 1995, The Sun reports. Her popular hits include 'You Were Meant For Me,' 'Foolish Games,' 'Intuition,' and 'Who Will Save Your Soul?' In September 2015, she released her 12th studio album, 'Picking Up the Pieces.' However, her past wasn't easy. She lived as a homeless teenager and sometimes, would “pass out” from anxiety, The Independent reports.

During a virtual town hall about mental health in July 2020, she said, “I was homeless for a year when I was 18 – absolutely terrified, having panic attacks, shoplifting. [There were] days I thought I would just pass out. I have passed out from panic attacks, actually. But I kept standing up.”

"I was a homeless kid who was stealing. I didn't have $40 to buy a dress, much less to get any housing," she said in 2017, reports CNN. Talking about happiness, the singer expressed, as stated by Forbes, "When you suffer with agoraphobia and panic attacks and start getting relief from those pain points, it’s like gold. That’s worth all the money in the world. And you take somebody with my fragile emotional baggage background—and god forbid I get famous—that’s like becoming another statistic. The odds were really high that I would tank, so I made myself a promise. I remember being on the beach in San Diego saying that my number one job was learning to be a happy, whole human. My number two job was to be a musician.”

At 19, Jewel was discovered "by accident" while she was singing in bars and coffee shops. She said her motto while building her music career was "hardwood grows slowly." "If you can emotionally connect with a human being ... and cause them to emotionally invest with you, you have something. Then you just have to go about it the old-fashioned way and create enough of a fan base that you have enough leverage to negotiate any kind of deal for yourself," she narrated, per ABC News.