Abandoned by Her Mother, She Became Homeless as a Teenager & Stole Food to Survive — Now She’s a Famous Singer

The celebrity ran away from home after suffering mistreatment at the hands of her father. As she worked to survive, life threw many challenges her way — even after she stepped into the music scene.

The singer grew up in a household that valued tradition. But everything changed when her mother abandoned the family, and she later had to fend for herself as a teenager.

When she was just eight, the star’s mother, Lenedra Carroll, walked away, leaving her, her brothers, and their father, Atz Kilcher, behind. From that point on, life at home took a dark turn.

“I grew up in a very traditional Mormon family. But everything changed when my mom left. My dad started drinking and being physically abusive, so like hitting us, and that’s what caused me to move out,” she explained. “He was in a lot of rage and a lot of yelling.”

Years of pain followed, but by the time she was 15, she couldn’t take the violence anymore. She left the family home and started living alone in a cabin, relying on shoplifting just to make it through.

Life in the cabin had been hard, but her next chapter brought new battles. At 19, she moved to San Diego in 1993, hoping for a fresh start and a shot at music. She shared in another interview, “I started paying rent and working a couple jobs in town, hitchhiking to work. It felt good.”

However, that sense of control didn’t last. After she refused her boss’s unwanted attention, she lost her job. Things quickly spiraled. The Utah native explained:

“I ended up homeless because I wouldn’t have sex with a boss. I started living in my car because my boss wouldn’t give me my paycheck. Then my car got stolen.”

“It was a violent era, but the Hells Angels actually were very protective over me. But there’s still violence,” she recalled. Anxiety, panic attacks, and health issues like kidney trouble and agoraphobia followed her through those years.

“It was men in positions of power from TV networks to record labels, and women faced it every day,” she added. Even as her music began to gain attention, the harassment didn’t stop.

Fame brought its own kind of cruelty. “I was called the chubby Renée Zellweger,” the music star shared. The ridicule added to a struggle that had started years earlier. “I was bulimic,” she said. “I was at a weight I didn’t like. I didn’t know how to fix it other than love myself. I was trying to love what I was eating, not lose more weight or get worse.”

After her 1998 album “Spirit” — which climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard charts — she decided to step back. Taking time off, she explained, was an “act of power.” “I had to learn how to handle the male ego and turn them down in a way that didn’t cost me in the workplace. It’s awful. Nobody should have to learn that, and sometimes it didn’t work,” she added.

Navigating the music industry came with pressure, judgment, and hidden battles — but the pain didn’t stop when the spotlight hit. Behind the success was someone still trying to make sense of her past. As she moved through early adulthood, she carried deep pain she rarely acknowledged. Each day felt like survival, with emotional and physical burdens clouding her path. She noted in an interview:

“It’s not that I was sitting there thinking of taking my own life. I never had a psychotic break. [But] I was thinking, ‘Is this tenable?’ If this is the rest of my life… Who wants that?”

The doubts she carried pushed her to choose a new way forward — one free from the hurt of her past. She left home with one goal: to heal, not hate. The celebrity shared:

“I was determined to heal: to let go, move on and figure out how I could be the one who changed those habits.”

With no therapy or strong family ties, she leaned on mindfulness and meditation. These tools later became part of her work with at-risk youth through the Inspiring Children Foundation and her website, JewelNeverBroken.com.

“I didn’t have access to therapy,” she said. “I didn’t even have a family, really.” Over time, she and her father — featured on “Alaska: The Last Frontier” — were able to reconnect. “He got sober and did this amazing inner work,” she said. “We have a really authentic, great relationship now, but it’s because he did his work, and I did my work.”

Rebuilding her relationship with her father marked a turning point, but the star’s journey toward peace had started much earlier — long before her voice ever reached a stage.

Known for her deeply emotional songs and raw honesty, Jewel first stepped into the spotlight in 1995 with her debut album “Pieces of You” under Atlantic Records. At just 19, she was performing in coffee shops, chasing a dream with nothing but her guitar and her words.

She once shared that as a fourth grader, she would leave school and head straight to a bar. There, she observed how adults dealt with pain — turning to relationships, drugs, and alcohol to dull their emotions. Even at that young age, she recognized the danger, thinking to herself, “I’m in trouble.”

Early on, she figured out she couldn’t escape what hurt her. Instead, she began writing down her thoughts to find relief. “[Writing] was my first mindfulness practice,” she explained in another interview. “I noticed every time I sat down to write, I felt calmer, I felt less anxiety, and it took the edge off just enough.”

The singer’s habit of writing became more than just an outlet — it marked the beginning of a deeper path to healing. Over time, she came to see that music, while powerful, wasn’t the true source of her transformation.

Her focus, she later shared, had always been on easing emotional pain, not just making songs. Though music played a meaningful part in her recovery, it wasn’t what turned things around. She believed that mindfulness needed more than quiet moments.

“Meditation alone will not change your life,” said the four-time Grammy nominee in another interview. To her, it was about taking conscious awareness and turning it into action.

Jewel believed that real change required action. In her view, rewiring harmful habits or making healthier choices depended on doing practical things each day, not just thinking about them. For the songwriter, healing meant turning awareness into daily effort.

That daily effort to live with purpose also defined how she handled life outside the spotlight. Even in her personal life, Jewel stayed focused on growth and intention.

She was married to rodeo champion and actor Ty Murray from 2008 to 2014, and together they have a son named Kase. Although the marriage ended, they worked to maintain a peaceful relationship for their child’s sake — a process she admitted wasn’t easy.

“It’s work. I don’t want people to think it’s effortless – it’s work to do this because you obviously don’t get a divorce because things are going well,” she said. “But it’s letting those things live in the past.”

Her journey through motherhood, personal growth, and love continued to evolve — always on her own terms. Jewel described herself as more fulfilled than ever in a 2024 interview:

“I’m more inspired now than I’ve ever been in my life. The most since I was like 19 or 20 years old.”

Much like her younger self — once romantically linked to Sean Penn — she refuses to be defined by others. When questioned about rumors involving Kevin Costner, she made it clear that her happiness is not dependent on any man.

“I found love, and I’m not talking about Kevin’s. I’m so happy, irrelevant of a man. It has nothing to do with being in a relationship or not being in one,” the music star added, choosing not to elaborate on the topic. She emphasized her contentment, fully aware of public curiosity. The love she openly shares now is the kind she spent years searching for — one that came from within. “I’m good,” said Jewel.

Jewel’s journey from a troubled childhood to international fame was marked by hardship, healing, and personal growth. She turned pain into purpose through writing, music, and mindfulness.

Despite the challenges, she forged a strong relationship with her father and remains devoted to her son. Her success is rooted in inner strength, not public approval or romantic ties. Today, she stands grounded, fulfilled, and completely at peace with who she is.