Sheryl Crow‘s career has brought her into contact with music legends like Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Walsh, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Stevie Nicks, most of whom went on to become friends and mentors to her. But only one music legend — that we know of — faced off against her on the basketball court.
Asked by SPIN if it’s true that she once shot hoops with Prince, Sheryl says, “That is hilarious…Yeah, he had a basketball [hoop] set up at Paisley Park and he invited me. Gosh, it’s so weird. I don’t even remember how I met him, but he recorded [my song] ‘Every Day is a Winding Road’ and invited me to come to Paisley Park.”
“I went and I recorded with him — I played harmonica on a couple of things — and he showed me around the studio, and he had a basketball court,” she adds. “He was an excellent basketball player. I, on the other hand, was, and still am, a terrible basketball player!”
Prince’s version of “Every Day is a Winding Road” appeared on his 1999 album, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. That same year, the late legend dropped in at a stop on the Lilith Fair tour to sing the song with Sheryl.
And speaking of touring, Friday, Sheryl is releasing a 27-track album called Live from the Ryman and More, recorded in 2019 with guest artists like Nicks, Brandi Carlile and Emmylou Harris.
She tells SPIN, “I guess my hope for it is that in the middle of all this weird separation that we’ve endured…it brings back memories of us all being together and being able to listen to music and be in the room.”
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.