After an illustrious 32 year career in the music industry Sheryl Crow’s final album, Threads, has been released. Her success in music is measured in more than just her nine Grammys or her 50 million albums sold, but by her strength and ability to persevere through a roller coaster ride of a personal life. After a split with fiancé and famous cyclist, Lance Armstrong, Sheryl was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, a non-invasive form of breast cancer. After a short and victorious battle with cancer, the singer went on to fulfill life-long dream and bought a horse farm in Nashville, Tennessee. Later that year she went on tour with John Mayer, proving her resiliency.
Although it’s her last album, Sheryl Crow is at peace with the decision that she’s made to not make any more albums. In an interview with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly, she explained why Threads will be her last studio album. “Well, I have loved the tradition of making records. I grew up holding the actual physical record and poring over the album notes and just dreaming about doing what I’m doing now. And with technology, it’s a little bit like putting the toothpaste back into the tube. We can’t go back and expect — particularly young people — to listen to albums from top to bottom. It’s almost a dying art form in that people cherry-pick songs and put them on playlists. So, I don’t know that the listening audience really ever gets the sense of the full artistic statement.” Since she decided it would be her last album, Threads is a 17-song project entirely made up of collaborations with other artists. Sheryl wanted to collaborate with other musicians who inspired her, ranging from Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Sting, to Bonnie Raitt, St. Vincent, and Chuck D. The unique thing about getting all these collaborations for her album is that Sheryl Crow personally reached out to every musician on Threads and asked them to work with her, and every single person said yes.
It might sound scary having one of the most influential female rock artists say she is done putting out albums, but to many fans’ relief it doesn’t mean she is done recording music. After what she describes as a “liberating feeling” debuting her single, “Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You,” the singer-songwriter explained that “We put out a song that meant something at that moment in the immediacy and didn’t wait for a full-length record.” Which is music to the ears of many fans, and even though it’s her final album, it isn’t the end of her era.
Threads Track List
1. Prove You Wrong ft. Stevie Nicks & Maren Morris
2. Live Wire ft. Bonnie Raitt & Mavis Staples
3. Tell Me When It’s Over ft. Chris Stapleton
4. Story Of Everything ft. Chuck D, Andra Day & Gary Clark Jr.
5. Beware Of Darkness ft. Eric Clapton, Sting & Brandi Carlile
6. Redemption Day ft. Johnny Cash
7. Cross Creek Road ft. Lukas Nelson & Neil Young (digital/physical) / ft. Margo Price & Neil Young (vinyl)
8. Everything Is Broken ft. Jason Isbell
9. The Worst ft. Keith Richards
10. Lonely Alone ft. Willie Nelson
11. Border Lord ft. Kris Kristofferson
12. Still The Good Old Days ft. Joe Walsh
13. Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You ft. St. Vincent
14. Don’t ft. Lucius
15. Nobody’s Perfect ft. Emmylou Harris
16. Flying Blind ft. James Taylor
17. For The Sake Of Love ft. Vince Gill
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