Sheryl Crow Admits Disappointment at Cell Phones During Her Concerts

Sheryl Crow wishes people would put away their cell phones during her concerts, even though she knows that likely isn’t going to happen. The music star used to ask fans to not keep them out during her live shows, but has since accepted the addition of technology while she is on stage, even if that fact is disappointing to her.

“It’s about the same as technology and streaming and all that stuff,” Crow told her record label. “You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, and with young people today it’s an extension of their arm to have their camera, their ability to throw something up on the net. It’s not going to change. And in early days when it was happening, I would always encourage people, ‘Hey take your pictures now and you’ve got a whole song to do that. And then you can put it in your pocket.’ And I say I’m a dinosaur.

“I am all about the connection that you make in the room with people who are present, and how you feel a connection with total strangers even in this common experience,” she continued. “I’m a little sad that we don’t allow ourselves to experience that anymore, to the point where, not only do we not allow ourselves, we wouldn’t even know what that felt like. So, it is what it is, is how I feel and I do my work and I find the people that are tapped in and present and that’s who I play to.”

Crow isn’t the only artist who is dismayed by cell phones in concerts. Artists like Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars and Jack White are among performers who are rumored to have asked fans to request no phones during their live shows.

Regardless of how Crow feels about phones in her shows, she still has plenty to smile about. The 57-year-old just released Threads, which she says is her final album, with artists like Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton, James Taylor, Eric Clapton and more joining her on the 17-track record.

“The common thread is music and the people that made them,” Crow told her record label about making Threads. “When I reflect on my career, I reflect on a 7-year-old who was obsessed with records and would pour over the album credits and would dream about becoming a Stevie Nicks or a Bonnie Raitt or an Emmylou Harris or a Keith Richards.

“That thread, from the moment of being inspired by musicians and music, runs all the way through my life creatively and personally,” she continued. “And it leads me, actually, into this next generation of young artists who are still inspiring me to make music and do what I’m doing.”

Photo Credit: Getty images/Josh Brasted