Jewel doesn’t watch herself on TV. She doesn’t watch anyone on TV. She doesn’t watch TV, period.
“I don’t have a TV in my house, because the news was making me too anxious,” the top-selling recording artist says in a phone chat. “It wasn’t worth my mental health.”
Take it from an expert in the field.
Mental health care is Jewel’s ongoing passion and crusade for 25 years, after she established the Inspiring Children Foundation in Las Vegas. Her fourth annual #NotAloneChallenge and first-ever Not Alone Awards are set for 8 p.m. Tuesday at Wynn Las Vegas.
The event celebrates individuals and organizations who have advanced mental health awareness and treatment internationally. The show is presented by such entertainment and charity power players as iHeartRadio and Villa Bibbiani and backed by The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, led by philanthropist Alex Cohen. Emmy-winning comic Loni Love and international business and marketing exec Bozoma Saint John co-host.
Star-laden lineup
Jewel leads a roster of stars scheduled to perform that also includes Flavor Flav, Rachel Platten, Alec Benjamin, JP Saxe, Cassadee Pope, Bishop Briggs, Harry Hudson and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.
Whitney Cummings, Jeremy Piven, Mike Tyson, Jonah Marais and Tallulah Willis are scheduled to appear.
The show will stream live on iHeartRadio’s YouTube channel, and later this month on Coffee Shop Radio. There is no general public access to the Wynn event. The iHeartRadio access is free and open to all. Information provided, and donations accepted, at NotAloneAwards.com.
The awards honor several people instrumental in the mental health awareness campaign who are not household names but have been active in the field for up to five decades.
Over the years, such stars as Billie Eilish, Lionel Richie, David Foster, Josh Groban, Tory Burch, Mark Burnett, Jake Shane and Paris Hilton have supported Inspiring Children’s Foundation initiatives.
The #NotAloneChallenge provides mental health tools and resources at no charge. ICF makes free online mental health tools and in-person programs more readily available. The foundation also provides wellness resources to people in need and helps develop more advanced mental health care opportunities virtually.
The events surrounding the show at Wynn include the first wellness event co-hosted by co-founder of Apple and mental health advocate Steve Wozniak. That effort takes place Monday through Wednesday.
ICF is a Vegas grassroots endeavor that has gone global, founded by Jewel, Ryan Wolfington, Marty Hennessy and David Pate.
“We’re in Lorenzi Park, and it was our kids who thought of the Not Alone Challenge, so we’re keeping it close to home,” Jewel says. “They wanted to do a social media challenge, and it’s really in large part because of them. I think it’s the biggest mental health social media challenge, with billions of impressions over the last four to five years.”
‘Privilege of my lifetime’
For decades now, people who experience anxiety have turned to Jewel’s music to relax. (Her breakout hit, “Who Will Save Your Soul,” was released 30 years ago.)
“I made my music as medicine for me. It’s a tool that helped me with my anxiety, songs like ‘Angels Standing By’ and ‘Who Will Save Your Soul,’ were about learning how to be accountable,” the 47-year-old artist says. “Am I expecting somebody else to save me? Or am I willing to do things in my own life to help myself?
“The fact that my music has resonated and sort of been medicine for other people has been the great privilege of my lifetime.”
Jewel says of Las Vegas, “It’s a small community, in so many ways. The people there are so supportive.”
This is another area in which she is an expert, having grown up in Homer, Alaska, a wilderness town of 5,000. She has overcome the days of living out of her car and chasing gigs in L.A., before her breakthrough album “Pieces of You” in 1995.
A few years ago, Jewel’s life and music was considered for a Cirque du Soleil production in Las Vegas. She and her family contributed to the One Night for One Drop event at MJ One Theater at Mandalay Bay. This was a tantalizing effort, fabulous for One Night, but Jewel eventually demurred.
“I had looked at doing that show. When I looked at the schedule of what it takes … I wouldn’t say I backed out of it, but I definitely thought twice about it,” Jewel says with a laugh. “Doing multiple shows a week is pretty hard, and it’s the reason I didn’t do Broadway, actually. The work schedule wasn’t appealing.”
Jewel has recorded a new album, but the music has yet to be released.
“I’ve gotten so into visual art. I’m doing music in my visual art by creating these immersive soundscapes, and having them studied to show that they’re getting people into altered brain wave states,” she says. “We’re going to have a big announcement soon where I talk about this immersive experience that I’m creating. To do work that you’re really passionate about is really rewarding.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.