Sheryl Crow says anyone who wants to learn the art of songwriting should go to the “college of Taylor Swift”.
The Grammy winning rock star has hailed Taylor, Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo and Phoebe Bridgers for their impressive “caliber of writing” and encouraged aspiring songwriters to study the ‘Blank Space’ hitmaker.
In a new cover story for Variety’s first-ever Power of Women Nashville issue, she said: “The caliber of writing is just so good with Chappell Roan, Olivia [Rodrigo] and Phoebe Bridgers, and these women are not just in the studio throwing in a lyric—they play. If you want to take a course in great songwriting, go study at the college of Taylor Swift. There’s Brandi [Carlile] and Courtney Barnett. For a long time, there was a dearth of women who were playing and singing and rocking, and now I’m tickled.”
In fact, a songwriting course based on the work of the ‘Shake It Off’ hitmaker launched at the University of Texas at Austin in 2022.
Elsewhere, the 63-year-old musician – who shot to fame in 1993 with her mega-hit ‘All I Wanna Do’ after starting out as a backup singer for huge stars, including late King of Pop, Michael Jackson – also admitted she wouldn’t be able to start a career in music today due to how “ego-driven” and vapid the music industry has become.
She explained: “When I think about it, it does make me sad that kids grow up now in my line of work where you hope you write a song as big as your brand, and the brand is so 24 hours a day—it’s so cultivated and so ego driven that if I were coming up in today’s world, I wouldn’t be able to do it, because the ego is the thing that makes me so miserable. I already struggle with having my feelings hurt. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go into it knowing I’ve got to build this picture of a famous, secure person but also try to be vulnerable and be an artist.”
Sheryl – who has spoken openly about her struggles with her mental health – no longer chases hits and just wants to write music that she is proud of.
She added: “I think if you’re a person like me that struggles with depression already, you’re always trying to figure out how to quiet those voices. And I’ve sort of made peace with it…I feel happy. I feel at peace. There isn’t that ’Oh my God, I gotta write a hit song.’ 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.”
Read the full Variety interview here: variety.com/2025/music/news/sheryl-crow-power-of-women-nashville-cover-story-1236379807.