End Of The Line

STREAMING MADE ALBUMS IRRELEVANT. SO SHERYL CROW DECIDED TO MAKE THIS ONE HER LAST.

- MARK Mc STEA

ALTHOUGH SHERYL CROW has been a household name since “All I Wanna Do” became a global hit in 1994, her album output has been anything but steady. She’s just released what is only her 10th studio album. Titled Threads, it will also be her last, barring any unforeseen changes. After 25 years as a solo artist, Crow has decided her days as an album-oriented songwriter are over. Streaming services have, as she points out, allowed consumers to choose exactly what they want to hear by plucking songs from an artist’s carefully chosen track order and often inserting them in playlists populated by tunes from other performers. The album format is, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent to the average consumer.

“A lot of people say the streaming services have saved the music business, and perhaps they have in some ways,” Crow says. “But the issue is so much deeper. When music is designed for a six-second attention span, there’s so many things you have to look at and analyze differently that don’t have anything to do with making music and buying records. For me, at my comfort level, I’m thinking this is a great record to go out on. It documents my history and inspiration and where I am now.”

Crow’s days as a musician are far from over. She’ll still release songs and perform, keeping alive a career that began well before she released her multimillion-selling 1994 debut, Tuesday Night Music Club. Long before her breakthrough as a solo artist, she had been a highly successful backing singer and session artist for stars like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, who gave her a spot duetting with him on his late-1980s Bad tour. She’d also done well writing and recording jingles, including a particularly lucrative advertisement for McDonald’s.