While attending Michigan's Interlochen Fine Arts Academy, Jewel began writing her first songs; upon graduating, she joined her mother in San Diego, suffering through a series of short-lived day jobs before deciding to flee the nine-to-five world for good, at which time she moved into her van and began focusing on a career in music. Her first regular gig was at the Innerchange, a coffeehouse in Pacific Beach; word quickly spread, and by 1993 she was the subject of a rabid local cult following.

After signing to Atlantic, in early 1995 Jewel issued her debut LP, Pieces of You; the record was a slow starter, not even breaking into the Billboard pop charts until some 14 months after its release, but eventually the single "Who Will Save Your Soul" became a major hit, and soon the album was a best-seller as well. Two other hits, "You Were Meant for Me" and "Foolish Games," followed. In 1998 Jewel returned with Night Without Armor, a collection of her spoken word poetry; her hotly anticipated second album, Spirit, followed later that year, as did the seasonal collection Joy: A Holiday Collection. Chasing Down the Dawn -- a spoken word album featuring unabridged selections from the book of the same name -- was issued in fall 2000.

This Way appeared a year later as a more lighthearted follow-up to Spirit. Fans and critics were shocked in 2003 when the slick dance-pop album 0304 appeared and were just as shocked when the singer allowed the Schick company to use the album's hit single, "Intuition," for a advertising campaign introducing their new razor. Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, released in May 2006, was a return to the warm sound of her earlier work. Led by the single "Again and Again," it reached the Top Ten. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide