Sheryl Crow talks Stevie Nicks, Olivia Rodrigo and why AI in music 'terrified' her

Sheryl Crow is well aware that she said her 2019 album, “Threads,” was likely her last.

Not that she was quitting writing and recording, but that the album format wasn’t really meaningful to a current listening audience used to cherry-picking songs for playlists.

With a resume boasting more than 50 million albums sold since 1993’s breakthrough “Tuesday Night Music Club,” nine Grammy Awards and 19 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including Top 10 smashes “All I Wanna Do,” “Strong Enough,” and “If It Makes You Happy,” no one would dispute that Crow earned the right to step onto the sidelines.

But here she is, readying for the Friday release of “Evolution,” her 12th studio album that opens with “Alarm Clock,” a blast of fuzzy funk-pop that sounds like vintage Crow.

“Now, I get up at 6 a.m. I used to get home at 6 a.m.,” she jokes.

From the chugging “Do It Again” to the confessional piano ballad “Don’t Walk Away” to the slow-burn title track that breaks its moody introspection for a whizzing guitar solo courtesy of Tom Morello, the 62-year-old Crow clearly has plenty still to say and play.

Chatting on video from the cozy recording studio in her Nashville, Tennessee, home, Crow touched on the reasons artificial intelligence in music terrifies her, how her sons felt about her recent induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and why Willie Nelson is “an amazing human.”

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Question: You really were the MVP of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November, playing with everyone from Olivia Rodrigo to Stevie Nicks to Willie Nelson. Were you exhausted by the end of the night?

Answer: I feel this way a lot about getting on stage. When I’m there, I can relax. No one needs an answer to something and there were so many machinations that went into that evening that by the time I got on stage, I was like, “Thank God I’m here and no one can get hold of me.”

I imagine any time you play with Stevie it’s still a bit surreal?

Not to downplay the award, but if not for (Stevie), I would not be doing what I’m doing. I’m still a child looking up to this rock star. I feel that way with Olivia. I somewhat see myself in what she’s doing. She loves seeing herself get better as a songwriter and that was me when I was young. But my whole night revolved around getting to sing with Willie, who is probably one of my favorite people I’ve ever known. I love how deeply present he is when he sings. He’s undefinably open at all times, he says what he thinks and he’s just an amazing human.

You also had your sons with you. Were they impressed?

I think there was a moment when they thought I was pretty cool. My 13-year-old (Levi) was like, “Is this like the NBA Hall of Fame?” Afterward, he asked me if I was the Taylor Swift of my time period. There was nothing – no machine or anything – that could make anyone that big. I felt a sense of pride (about the induction) from my 16-year-old (Wyatt) and that was really sweet. But I try to make their lives as normal as possible. We came home from the Rock Hall and went to the ball field for a doubleheader.

In the title track, you talk about turning on the radio and hearing a voice that sounds like yours. Has that really happened to you where you think, wait, is that me or a fake from technology?

It has through the years, but it culminated for me when I heard a demo by a young songwriter and she had uploaded John Mayer’s voice, right down to the personality of how he sings, and it terrified me. This is what songwriters are growing up with, even writing lyrics and using ChatGPT. I’m an older artist and I’m concerned about the evolution of humanity. The only thing I know how to do is go to an instrument and start writing and singing, and that really was the impetus for this collection of songs. There were so many things on my mind that I didn’t know what to do with and lifting your voice on social media can be a terrible trap. So music is my go-to.

As someone who has been writing for decades, what made it feel differently this time, especially since you really felt you were done after “Threads”?

When you’ve been doing it so long you immediately think of a project and this bunch of songs was not that. I had said I wasn’t going to make another record, but at a certain point I had “Evolution,” “Broken Record,” “Walk Away” and “Where?.” So I called (producer) Mike (Elizondo) and first said, “I want to do ‘Digging in the Dirt’ by Peter Gabriel. Would you produce it?” and I also sent him these (new) songs, these little demos, and said, “Would you just Martin Scorsese them out?” And that’s what he did. I’ve never worked that way (not producing my own record). It was an absolute gift that I gave myself.

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In “Where?” you sing, “to be free means learning not to care.” Have you gotten to that point in life?

I’m a twentysomething-year meditator and one thing you do is strive to reprogram and control your judgment devices. I’m not a Buddhist, I’m a Christian, but attachment is based in ego and it’s not a matter of not caring, but being able to feel and that’s the question I have about where we’re at. If caring is feeling and we won’t allow ourselves to feel, then how do we care?

When I went through breast cancer treatment, I had a wonderful, intuitive friend who said learning to hold an emotion and not being distracted, that is the gateway to awakening, to enlightenment. It is something we have unlearned and we have to learn.

You’re going to Europe in June for some concerts and then will be with Pink for her stadium shows later this summer. Any other tour plans to support the new record?

We are going to try to tour the record as much as we can. I had a funny conversation with Lionel Richie once and he asked me when I thought you should play new songs and I said, “I don’t know” and he said, “Never.” (Laughs) I’m going to take that into consideration because I know people want to hear the hits, but I’m going to sneak in one or two new songs. I am on a timeline here. I have two more summers with my oldest kid. I’m very selfish. I’m not willing to miss many nights. I love playing, but I don’t want to miss anything.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sheryl Crow talks Olivia Rodrigo, being 'terrified' by AI in music