Sheryl Crow’s Relationship With Owen Wilson Is the Subject of 1 of Her Famous Songs
Music has a way of speaking a universal language, and that is especially true for love songs. Whether we want to scream it from the rooftops when we’ve found a new love, are celebrating years of being cozied up with our soul mate, or need to belt out our despair when our hearts get broken, love songs help us do it.
Often, these songs become so associated with our own love lives and their ups and downs that we forget the artists who penned them were likely channeling their own emotions through their work. That’s certainly the case for one of Sheryl Crow‘s big hits — it was a love song for Owen Wilson.
Sheryl Crow rose to fame as a singer
Crow’s career in music started out as a humble one. As Biography.com reports, she got her start recording advertising jingles. From that work, she climbed up the ranks and became a backup singer, performing with stars like Michael Jackson and Rod Stewart.
In 1993, Crow released her first album, Tuesday Night Music Club, and her career took off. In particular, the single “All I Wanna Do” became a chart-topping success and made Crow a household name.
By 1995, she was racking up accolades including earning three Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Crow was just getting started, and she continued to release a stream of new music year after year with albums coming out at regular intervals while also touring with Lilith Fair and winning more Grammy Awards.
Sheryl Crow had some high-profile relationships
While Crow made headlines for her professional accomplishments, she also had some attention-grabbing news in her personal life. Notably, Crow has had high-profile relationships with three famous men.
In the early days of her career, she was linked with Eric Clapton, a famous musician 17 years her senior. The relationship was short-lived, and Crow met Wilson while playing a small part in the film The Minus Man. The pair began a two-year relationship that eventually fizzled out.
Perhaps her most noteworthy relationship was with once-famed — and since disgraced — cyclist Lance Armstrong. She met Armstrong shortly after he went through a divorce, and the pair began dating in 2003. By 2005, they were engaged, but the marriage never happened, and they broke up the next year.
Sheryl Crow penned a love song for Owen Wilson
Crow’s relationship history has been eventful, but the singer found that it wasn’t fulfilling in the way she hoped. As E! Online reports, Crow noted that she had a tendency to date very successful men but that there was an imbalance in their relationships over time: “what ends up happening is that one of you becomes smaller — and it was always me.”
On top of that, Crow faced a terrifying breast cancer diagnosis, and she credits that experience with teaching her more about what she wants out of a partner. Crow went on to a very independent life, including adopting two sons. There are remnants of her time with the men she dated that suggest she had higher hopes at one point in their relationship.
This includes the song “Safe and Sound,” which she dedicated to Owen Wilson and their relationship together. The emotional song includes lyrics like “If only you could hang on through the night/Cause I don’t want to be lonely/I don’t want to be scared.”
