Sheryl Crow: Its better to have three broken engagements than three divorces
Sheryl Crow covers the August issue of Good Housekeeping. Every time I cover a Sheryl story, I re-google her age and am amazed all over again. Sheryl is now 52 and looks both fantastic and real. This interview takes place at Sheryl’s 50-acre ranch near Nashville. She’s got both of her sons, Wyatt (7) and Levi (4), in tow. Sheryl talks about several topics in this feature. She talks about her benign brain tumor as a wake-up call. She alludes to her famous ex-boyfriends, which include Lance Armstrong, Owen Wilson, and Eric Clapton. Somehow I missed her liason with Owen over the years. I very much remember Sheryl catching heat for Lance Armstrong’s actions. Sheryl is simply grateful that she never married any of these chumps. Good point:
On battling cancer: “Something happens when you’re diagnosed with a disease. Your emotions start racing, and clarity is reached.”
The glamour of parenting: “I’ve become a glorified taxi driver.” Though she has a nanny and her sister Kathy helps out, Crow is a hands-on mom who takes the boys shopping at Target, drives them to Sunday school and swimming and tennis lessons and helps care for their pet guinea pigs.
Put your clothes back on, pop stars: “It’s hard to be a woman in music today. There’s so much sex that’s projected, and that’s a bummer. These singers talk about how empowering it is, but a good musician who can command the stage doesn’t have to rely on sex to sell her music.”
Her ex-boyfriends: “I had always gone out with guys who were highly successful, which would seem like it would put me at an equal level. But what ends up happening is that one of you becomes smaller — and it was always me. It’s always the woman. I mean, I don’t know if it’s always the woman, but I do think that sometimes in order for one person’s light to shine, everyone else has to dim theirs.”
Her newer relationships are different: “Embrace the idea of only having equals in your life, and you’ll see your relationships change. I’d made a pact with myself that my kids would know anybody I was involved with as a friend first. They weren’t gonna wake up and find somebody sleeping in their house or feel abandoned because the relationship fell apart. You can still love and respect someone, even when you’re mad at them or disagree with them. And you can celebrate the good things happening for them, even when those things are not happening for you.”
Her love life in perspective: “I’ve been set up before. It’s funny — my guy friends will tell me, ‘I don’t know anyone good enough for you.’ And I keep saying, ‘Lower your standards!’ Hey, I would love to get married — I’m still old-fashioned. But I don’t think marriage is the be-all and end-all. It’s better to have three broken engagements than three divorces.”
[From People]
I haven’t kept up with much of Sheryl’s music since the late 1990s, but I’ve always admired her personally. She seems very strong but her “picker” hasn’t been very reliable when it comes to men. Her three famous exes have all battled some form of substance abuse problem. Sheryl is absolutely correct about three broken engagements being worse than three marriages. Who would want that trouble in their lives besides Kim Kardashian?
Photos courtesy of Good Housekeeping & WENN
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmbG9maoV6e9KhnKuxnJSws7vWmKCtq4%2BXsrXAxKuWraePna63sb6tn6udlZSvs7vKnqWYnZ6crqixzJ6lrauPqbWiur6tn6udlZSxqsLOq5qeq18%3D