The Return Of Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow will perform a benefit concert on Friday, Dec. 14 at Southeast Missouri State University. This year's unplugged concert will be an intimate event held in Academic Auditorium.

Crow is an ardent supporter of education. All proceeds from her concert will be divided equally to support endowed scholarships for students enrolled in the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Southeast Missouri State University and at the Kennett Area Higher Education Center.

While most celebrities leave their hometowns without so much as a backward glance, Crow has held fast to her hometown roots. A native of Kennett, MO, she returns often to visit her parents, Wendell and Bernice, and other family members and friends.

During this visit home, Crow will be awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Southeast. It will be presented during the graduation ceremony at the Show Me Center on December 15 where Crow will be making the commencement address.

Crow learned to play the piano by age six and wrote her first song at age 13. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with majors in music composition, performance and education.

She worked as an elementary school music teacher for children with special needs, and has said, "It's amazing to see music work on little human beings who are otherwise unreachable. They feel the vibration of a guitar, and they come alive."

At the age of 23, Crow moved to Los Angeles, determined to be a professional musician, armed with a few thousand dollars in savings, a classical music degree and experience singing with a college band. Her savings were soon depleted, but she found work as a backup singer for such talents as Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Rod Stewart and Michael Jackson, earning respect and opportunities in the music world. During the 1980s, she continued to write songs, some of which were recorded by other famous musicians. Her own debut recording, "Tuesday Night Music Club," released in 1993, displayed her gift of catchy lyrics and non-aggressive rock sound, and by 1995 had been certified as a 5x platinum LP. Crow had become a star.

Since that time, songs by Crow regularly have made the Top 10 lists, and she has received the top accolade in her profession, the Grammy Award, numerous times, beginning in 1995 with Grammies for "Record of the Year," "Best Pop Vocal Performance- Female" and "Best New Artist." She also has won a Grammy for "Best Rock Album," and in February 2001, she won her latest Grammy for "Best Rock Vocal Performance- Female," her third in that category. She also has man the Gibson Guitar Award as the Best Acoustic Guitarist- Female (2000).

Tickets to the benefit concert are $27 for the general public, $20 for Southeast students with an ID. Parking will be available in lots along Henderson Street with free shuttle transportation to and from Academic Auditorium. The concert begins at 7pm. To order tickets call the Show Me Center Box Office at (573) 651-5000.