Sheryl Crow recently reflected on career advice she received early in her music journey. She shared insights from a conversation with Don Henley in an interview featured on Esquire. The discussion centered on the importance of protecting her own musical work rather than allowing other artists to hold her songs.
Crow explained that she had experienced significant interest in her compositions from major artists. Initially, this seemed like a validation of her talent. However, Henley offered her crucial guidance about maintaining control of her creative output.
“I had a song covered by Celine Dion and a song covered by Tina Turner,” Crow said. “I had a song that Eric Clapton had on hold. He was going to record it, so they put it on hold so nobody else can record it.”
This experience prompted Henley’s direct intervention. “That was when Don Henley said, ‘You need to quit giving your songs away. And if you’re serious about this, you need to hold on to your songs for yourself,'” Crow recalled.
The turning point in Crow’s career came at a critical moment when she was establishing herself as a songwriter-for-hire in the music industry. Her early success in writing for established artists seemed promising. However, it came with a hidden cost that would have derailed her path to stardom.
Sheryl Crow wrote a song for Eric Clapton that was never recorded or released by him, as reported by Guitar World. This experience, combined with similar situations involving other major artists, illustrated a fundamental problem. Her best work was being held in limbo by other performers, preventing her from building her own artistic identity. The song Clapton placed on hold exemplified how the “hold” system in the music industry could indefinitely lock away creative work.
Don Henley’s intervention proved transformative for Crow’s trajectory. Phil Collins and Eric Clapton also placed songs of hers on hold, but Henley’s sage advice soon set Crow on a different career path, as noted by American Songwriter. Rather than continuing to write primarily for others, Henley believed in her talent. He encouraged her to see herself not just as a songwriter for hire, but as an artist in her own right. His mentorship shifted her focus toward developing her own signature sound and performing her own material.
The advice proved foundational to Crow’s career development. By heeding Henley’s guidance to hold onto her best work for herself, Crow eventually became one of the most successful recording artists of the 1990s and beyond. Her decision to prioritize her own artistry over providing songs for established names allowed her to craft the deeply personal and vulnerable music that would define her career. This shift from songwriter-for-others to artist-for-herself became the cornerstone of her success. It demonstrated the value of artistic ownership and control in the music industry.
