Alaska News

Is Alaska's long-forgotten celebrity singer, Jewel, back? (+video)

The American folk singer Jewel grew up on a homestead outside of Homer, Alaska, but claimed California as home as her fame grew. The singer never appeared particularly comfortable with her roots. But these days it seems as if she may be coming around.

Online reality TV tracker HULIQ reports that Jewel has teamed up with her father to record the theme song to the Discovery Channel's latest Alaska-centric reality program. The show, "Alaska: The Last Frontier," features the homespun tribute "Alaska's Last Frontier" written by the show's patriarch, Atz Kilcher.

Kilcher claims the song is an "ode to the Alaskan homesteader," and captures the spirit of the unique lifestyle, the people who occupy it and the land itself. Kiltcher sings the lead in the duet with Jewel accompanying him.

Recording "Alaska's Last Frontier" was a first for Kiltcher and his famous daughter. He told the Discovery Channel that the opportunity was "definitely one of the highlights of my music career." He added, "(it) took me 65 years to write this song, I'm excited for the world to hear it."

In 1995 Jewel released "Pieces of You," the album that made her world famous. "Pieces" became one of the best selling albums of all time, catapulting the Alaskan out of her minimalist lifestyle and into the limelight. That fame no longer burns as bright, and Jewel now lives in Texas with her husband and son.

For more visit HULIQ here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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