Sheryl Crow: ‘Surviving breast cancer redefined who and how I am’

The singer, 59, talks about music, family, relationships - and reveals she's shorter than we think

Music was my life as a kid. My earliest memory is singing as we drove through Missouri in our powder-blue station wagon. Having swing-band-player parents meant the house was filled with dancing. Music was my identity; I never thought about any other future.

I skipped school at 15 to enter a best-legs competition - and won. The contest was being run by a local radio station. I don't remember who was judging - a bunch of dirty old men, I'm sure - but I proudly walked across that stage to victory. I may have been grounded and thrown in detention, but I kept hold of my $100 winnings.