Alaska-raised singer-songwriter Jewel explained in an Instagram post on Friday about why she performed at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” inaugural celebration, and said she was sorry if it caused her fans pain.
She said she performed because, “I am a mental health advocate.”
The singer, who was born as Jewel Kilcher but who goes by her first name only, said she had reached out to the Biden Administration about her concerns, saying that one in four children in America are “considering un-aliving themselves.” It’s not much better for adults, she said.
Jewel said, “I believe there are things we can do to save lives. I believe I can help, and if I believe I can help, I have to try.”
She said the mental health crisis cannot wait another four years. “If I can help shape policy, make sure mental health is in the conversation when it comes to American health, if I can help put resources or mental health tools into the hands of the most vulnerable who need it, I’m going to try, and I’m going to fight.”
She also apologized, saying she is “so sorry that I caused pain, especially in my LGBTQIA+ community, because you guys are treasures.”
The full statement can be viewed here:
From a family of Alaska pioneers, Jewel’s grandfather was Yule Kilcher, who settled in Homer, Alaska after emigrating from Switzerland. He ultimately had a hand in drafting Alaska’s State Constitution and served in the Alaska State Senate.
Her life story is one of overcoming hardship. Her parents divorced and she was raised by her father, who suffered from the scars of having been physically abused as a child, and having post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Vietnam war. He abused alcohol and his own children.
“Through the neglect and human frailty of both my parents, I began to doubt my worth, my instincts, and value,” Jewel said in a biography published at the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. “So lasting are the scars of the child who never feels worthy of love. The negative lessons I learned from my mom and dad, which I’m sure they inherited from theirs, would take me many years to unlearn.”
Jewel hit the road in her teens, living out of her car and singing throughout small venues in Southern California, where her talent was discovered by those who helped her launch her storied singing and acting career. Read her life story at this link.
Critics, such as one writer at Vanity Fair, treated her harshly for performing at a gala celebrating the election of Donald Trump and were not forgiving of her apology.
Eve Batey snarked that Jewel claiming to be “a mental health advocate” is “an assertion that likely made the millions of people who have felt their mental wellness crumble in the past week gnash their teeth in frustration, especially when the singer continued, ‘I believe I can help, and if I believe I can help, I have to try.’ That meant serenading RFK Jr. and his wife, actor Cheryl Hines, with a rendition of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow,’ though it’s unclear how the performance of the famous song made an impact on the fight for our nation’s sanity.”
