Sheryl Crow made a rare yet subtle reference to her past romance with retired cyclist Lance Armstrong.
“We all have those moments in our lives where we have to pivot. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, and I moved here [to Tennessee] in 2007,” Crow, 63, recalled to Variety in a profile published on Wednesday, April 30. “I think having come out of a relationship where I thought I was gonna be married and was close to the kids that were gonna be my stepkids, then got diagnosed — all three of those things made me reassess.”
She added, “I just looked at it and thought, ‘I want to put down roots; I want to have a family.’ My sisters live here, and my family all live within three hours, and I just decided to start phase two.”
The Missouri native and Armstrong, 53, were together from 2003 to 2006, when they broke off their five-month engagement. The former athlete later claimed that they went their separate ways over Crow’s desire to have children.
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Armstrong and ex-wife Kristin Richard share son Luke, 25, and twin daughters Isabelle and Grace, both 23. He also shares two younger children, Olivia and Max, with wife Anna Hansen, whom he wed in August 2022.
As for Crow, she adopted sons Wyatt and Levi in 2007 and 2010, respectively, after her breast cancer went into remission. She even slowed down her touring schedule in order to spend more time with her sons.
“I’m too selfish to want to miss any time with them; I feel like my 18-year-old was just born, and he’s gonna be leaving for college in a year,” Crow told Variety. “I’ll go back to work full time [once they are out of the house] because I have an acute connection to joy when I’m playing.”
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Crow recently performed alongside Pink last year.
“I told her, ‘If I got to open for you for the rest of my life, I’d be happy,’” she recalled to the outlet. “Her audience is everything from families to bikers to gay couples, and she speaks to them through songs about hardship and depression and having to work really hard.”
Next up, Crow will join Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan on their “Outlaw Music Festival Tour” this summer, all while continuing to make music that brings her joy.
“I feel happy. I feel at peace. There isn’t that ‘Oh my God, I gotta write a hit song,’” she added. “Even if I wrote a hit song, it wouldn’t get played! So now I just wanna write music that feels like I’m glad I wrote it.”
