What Is Singer-Songwriter Jewel’s Real Name?
The music industry is known for its diversity and creativity, and not only in the great songs that are produced. In many cases, there is also a lot of creativity behind musicians and band names as well. However, for the select few, their talent is so great they don’t need anything more than their first names to be recognized by millions. One singer-songwriter, in particular, is the ’90s folk star Jewel, among other stars with ‘first-name fame.’
What genre is Jewel?
Jewel has been an influential hit in the music industry since ’95 when she released her breakout single “Who Will Save Your Soul?” A small part of her album Pieces of You that IMDb reports had earned the star a Grammy nomination, two MTV nominations, and an MTV Video Music Award win. Her most popular songs that have made their rounds over the years are “You Were Meant For Me,” “No More Tears,” and “Foolish Games.” All great songs that showcase her ability to sing and play guitar.
The yodeling singer isn’t just popular within the folk music genre but has also had her fair share of genre mixes. One of which was with another first-name famous singer, Beyoncé, who had her back during a performance. The opportunity arose where she could’ve upstaged Jewel in a VH1 duet by showing off her more proficient dancing abilities, but the “Drunk in Love” singer chose to be supportive ‘like a sister.’
Is Jewel a common name?
According to Baby Names Hub, Jewel isn’t a common name, as data suggests less than 40,000 people have been given the name since the 1880s. Compared to a name like Emily, which is estimated to have been used for at least 700,000 babies since the 1880s, Jewel is clearly an uncommon first name. Jewel is a great example of what The Washington Post calls first-name fame, where a star becomes so famous they can be easily recognized by their first name alone. This is most common among stars who have more unique names.
“[Jewel is] a folk singer-turned-megastar whose debut album went platinum 15 times over, back in the ’90s, when she posed for the cover of Time magazine and sang duets with Bob Dylan,” according to The Washington Post. It turns out her name is so big that she has even “sung for a pope and a president” at one point. It seems that first-name fame perfectly describes Jewel’s power as a musician and her influence on the industry and her fans.
What is Jewel’s real name?
Jewel’s full name is Jewel Kilcher, and she’s not the only celebrity to achieve first-name fame. There are stars in all categories of fame, ranging from rock’n’roll and hip hop to acting and professional sports players. The list could honestly go on for miles. Instead, we’ll narrow it down to the most famous, although it will still leave out a notorious handful of stars.
To name a few, there is Beyoncé, Madonna, Cher, Bjork, Prince, Mario, Tupac, Ellen, Shakira, Oprah, Rihanna, Ciara, Adele, and even 18-time All-Star basketball player Kobe. As HuffPost so rightly puts it, “Some celebrities are so big, they don’t need a last name.” According to their Facebook questionnaire, users picked the star that ‘shines so bright’ they’re easily recognized without their last name to be the rock’n’roll legend Elvis. It’s safe to say there isn’t a ‘first-name fame’ celebrity out there that doesn’t possess an enormous amount of talent and recognition. Jewel Kilcher is one of them. With a cool first-name like hers, how could she not be?
