“I’ve worked with Lee Sklar. I got to see Anthony Jackson play. I had Pino Palladino on my first album. I’ve been able to absorb that bass-playing mojo”: How the bass guitar became a crucial part of Sheryl Crow’s songwriting process

Sheryl Crow performs on NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on October 01, 2025 in New York City.

Sheryl Crow’s career has the perfect level of fame: she spent two years as a backup singer for Michael Jackson’s Bad tour, her debut album earned her three Grammy Awards, she’s collaborated with the likes of Don Henley, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, John Mayer, and Justin Timberlake, and even wrote a Bond song, for Tomorrow Never Dies.

Yet there is one element to her success that may not be common knowledge, which is that her favourite writing tool is no longer the guitar.