A former sorority member, Summer Welcome leader, Homecoming Steering Committee member and famous classic rock and country singer is making her way back to her former home at MU.
Sheryl Crow is returning to her alma mater in concert at 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Missouri Theatre to a sold-out crowd.
This concert is just one stop on Crow’s current cross-country tour, which will feature songs from her most recent album, “Feels Like Home,” released in 2013. Some of her greatest hits include “All I Wanna Do,” “If It Makes You Happy” and “Soak up the Sun.”
But this isn’t just a normal concert. Crow is teaming up with Commerce Bank and MU to donate the proceeds from her concert to the construction of a new building for the School of Music.
Teresa Maledy, the CEO and President of Commerce Bank for the Central Missouri region, was glad to sponsor the event to support the community.
“We have a long history of sponsoring the arts and we greatly value the partnership we have with the university,” Maledy said in an email. “This seemed like a wonderful opportunity to support the university and a worthy cause in our community.”
But the generosity doesn’t stop there.
“As a sponsor of the event, Commerce Bank is able to underwrite a portion of the cost of putting on the concert which allows more money from ticket sales to go towards the new music building project,” she said.
In addition, Crow has waived her performance fee, School of Music Director Julia Gaines said.
“We are ecstatic,” she said in an email. “We need a new building desperately and to have an alum come back and donate her time to help with a big fundraiser is fantastic.”
She estimated that the building will be completed within a few years once all the funds are gathered. Events and donations make these kinds of additions possible.
“The building won’t be built without contributions like this from all around,” she said. “Every penny helps.”
Sheryl Crow’s fame might not have started during her time here, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t leave her mark.
Crow was an active student while at MU. She was a member of the Panhellenic sorority Kappa Alpha Theta, the Omicron Delta Kappa secret society and the international music fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota. She also played in multiple rock bands, including Cashmere in the early 80s. They covered Diana Ross songs, usually at sorority and fraternity parties, and Bullwinkles, which is now The Field House. In 1984, she graduated from MU with dual majors in music education and classical piano.
Crow climbed the ladder of success until she finally reached national fame in 1993 with a collaborative multi-platinum album “Tuesday Night Music Club.” In 1996, she went on to release her own solo album, “Sheryl Crow,” which won her two Grammy awards for Best Rock Album and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Since then, she has released multiple albums and won many awards, making her a well-known and respected name in the music industry and as an MU alum.
