Jewel was raised near Homer, Alaska, where she grew up singing and yodeling as a musical duo with her father, Atz Kilcher, a local musician.

In 1998, Jewel released a collection of poetry, and the following year appeared in a supporting role in Ang Lee's Western film Ride with the Devil (1999) which earned her critical acclaim.

[5][6] At the time of her birth, her parents had been living in Utah with her elder brother, Shane; her father was attending Brigham Young University.

[19] The Jewel family is featured on the Discovery Channel show Alaska: The Last Frontier, which chronicles their day-to-day struggles living in the Alaskan wilderness.

We had to walk 2 miles (3.2 km) just to get to the saddle barn I was raised in... No running water, no heat—we had a coal stove and an outhouse and we mainly lived off of what we could kill or can.

[22] She would later credit the time she spent in bars as integral to her formative years: "I saw women who would compromise themselves for compliments, for flattery; or men who would run away from themselves by drinking until they ultimately killed themselves.

[24] Local businesses in her hometown of Homer donated items for auction to help allocate additional funds, and raised a total of $11,000 to pay the remainder of her first year's tuition.

[27] After graduating, she relocated to San Diego, California, where she worked in a coffee shop and as a phone operator at a computer warehouse.

[28] For a time, Jewel lived in her car while traveling around the country doing street performances and small gigs, mainly in Southern California.

[26] Vainshtein, who at the time was working as a Vice President of Productions at Paramount, went on to become her manager and was instrumental in creating a major bidding war that led to her deal with Atlantic Records.

Part of the album was recorded live at the Inner Change Cafe in San Diego, where Jewel had risen to local fame.

[37] Jewel was chosen to sing the American national anthem at the opening of Super Bowl XXXII in January 1998 in San Diego.

She also made a promotional appearance on the T in Boston for the Verizon Yellow Pages, playing songs on a moving subway car and then doing an hour-long acoustic concert in South Station.

[74] In April 2015, she appeared as a guest musician on Blues Traveler's album Blow Up the Moon, co-writing the song "Hearts Still Awake".

[75] On June 28, she revealed in a Q&A on Facebook that her upcoming album would be released in the second week of September of that year, and would feature a folk sound recorded with a live band.

[77] In 2016, Jewel was featured in the Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe, having previously met the actor when she was supposed to co-star with him in The Lyon's Den.

In an interview with American Songwriter, Jewel explained that, in addition to being an executive producer on the documentary, she was inspired to write the track because she was moved by the stories of the individuals featured in the film and related those to her own experiences of being homeless when she was eighteen.

[88] Jewel and her son performed a duet of her song "Hands" on The Masked Singer Christmas Singalong, aired on Fox on December 22, 2021.

Jewel's thirteenth studio album, Freewheelin' Woman, was released on April 15, 2022, via her own label, Words Matter Media.

[92] On February 19, 2023, Jewel performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah.

[94] On April 9, 2024, Jewel joined Olivia Rodrigo to perform "You Were Meant for Me" at her fourth show at Madison Square Garden for her Guts World Tour.

[96] Caitlin Gibson of The Washington Post described Jewel's vocal versatility, stating that "she can summon many voices—deep and powerful, girlish and sweet, piercing and agile."

Gibson also commented about Jewel's debut; "In an era still gripped by grunge, [she] climbed to the top of the pop charts with sweet, simple folk tunes".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote about 0304, describing it as "A record that (is) lyric-driven, like Cole Porter stuff, that also has a lot of swing... that combined dance, urban, and folk music.

Better still, it sounds more authentic (and boasts a better set of songs) than her previous records, which were either too ramshackle or too self-serious and doggedly somber to really reveal much character.

"[98] Perfectly Clear (2008) was influenced by her appreciation for country music,[97] while Picking Up The Pieces (2015) saw Jewel "going back to [her] folk/American roots that [she] began with.

[109] Utilizing new technology alongside the traditional painting techniques in The Portal, Jewel choreographed a drone light show in partnership with Nova Sky Stories,[110] which accompanies a new song.

[116] Many singers and songwriters besides herself have donated their written lyrics including Patrick Davis, Alabama's Randy Owen, John Mellencamp, Jason Mraz, Gretchen Wilson, and Marv Green.

[118] The highest bought lyrics being Jewel's signature song "You Were Meant For Me" sold for US$1,505,[citation needed] and "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "Hands", raising more than $1,005 each.

I read a lot of books in Alaska, I was pretty isolated where I grew up, and I think that I never thought I was any different than a man; I was raised in a place where pioneer women were very strong still.