Sheryl Crow reveals her tour must-haves and essential albums, including this 'game changer'

Sheryl Crow had no intention to write another album after 2019's "Threads."

But the combination of a mind overloaded with concern for the future and a series of songs that seemed to tumble out of her led to "Evolution," her 12^th studio album, released in March.

On it, the newly minted Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee tackles her fears about artificial intelligence on the title track, blends expert snark with humor ("Anger sucks, but at least your brand's trending," she sings on "Broken Record") and covers Peter Gabriel's 1992 classic "Digging in the Dirt."

It's an organic progression for the woman who has sold more than 50 million albums since 1993's debut, "Tuesday Night Music Club," earned nine Grammy Awards and climbed the Billboard Hot 100 19 times with hits including "If It Makes You Happy," "All I Wanna Do" and "My Favorite Mistake."

In a conversation from her home studio in Nashville, Crow, 62, shares her essential albums and tells us why her upcoming tour dates will be more of a family affair than a boisterous party scene.

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Why Sheryl Crow prefers to write in a quiet space

In announcing her new album, Crow said the songs came from "sitting in the quiet and writing from a deep soul place."

As mother to sons Levi, 13, and Wyatt, 16, Crow says she often finds herself engaged in their active lives, so her writing sessions primarily take place when the boys are in school.

"I sit on the screened-in porch, and if it's cold I'll light a fire, and if not, I sit out with the sounds of birds and my guitar and a cup of tea. That's where I worked out most of what is on this record," she says. "It's sort of like downloading (your mind) now, and it's liberating. I hate being on the other side of when you age out of being popular, but it's liberating to sit down and write what is on your mind, and know there is probably a huge population of people who understand that."

Sheryl Crow is done partying on tour but anticipates 'adventure'

Crow will head to Europe this summer for a couple of weeks of shows before meeting up with Pink in August to open a slate of concerts on her Summer Carnival stadium tour.

Crow's sons will join her in Europe, even though "they're of the age where maybe going on tour bus isn't where they want to spend their summer," she says with a laugh. But she's hoping for an "adventure" with her family while keeping things low-key backstage and on the bus.

"I'm really easy. We have our general snacks and I like to drink a beer, maybe two if I'm feeling, 'Hey, let's get loose.' But that's the extent of that. If my kids are there, I'm happy."

Sheryl Crow names her 'game changer' album

Crow enjoyed an almost surreal experience at her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in November when she performed with upstarts (Olivia Rodrigo), legends (Willie Nelson, Elton John) and friends (Stevie Nicks, Peter Frampton) on the same night.

Music is a necessity in her life, and she taps George Harrison's triple album from 1970, the lauded "All Things Must Pass," as her "game changer."

"I just remember as a kid reading album notes, and for him to step out (from the band) … we Beatles fans didn't know what he was fully capable of, and that album blew my mind," Crow says. "I think it planted some seeds to seeking some higher vibration. I've come back to it through the years and picked up things like, 'Oh yeah, that's what he meant.'"

As a lifelong Beatles disciple, Crow also still gravitates toward "Let It Be," the band's final studio album, released in 1970.

"I was brought into the world with a certain amount of melancholy, and there is a lot of that in that record, the essence that it was all coming apart even though you didn’t know it," she says. "But you felt different personalities on the record and the songwriting was so beautiful."

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Sheryl Crow explains the 'divinity' of Stevie Wonder

Crow still drifts toward Stevie Wonder, musically and personally, and admires his aura as well as his landmark 1972 album, "Talking Book."

"He was such an amazing writer when it came to documenting what was happening in the times and he made it hooky. We all sang every word," she says. "I'll look at him and think, 'There is so much divinity there.' All of the rest of us are trying to learn, and he just came in with it. In the history of musicians, there are a handful of people like that. It was part of the essential DNA."

Crow also maintains a soft spot for "Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon," the 1971 James Taylor record that includes his only No. 1 hit, the Carole King-written "You've Got a Friend."

Crow recalls lying on the floor of her childhood home in front of the record player and absorbing Taylor's understated storytelling.

"It lifts me, it opens me. It's beautiful songwriting and singing," she says. "Music is a salve. I remember meeting Carlos Santana and him saying, 'You really change the molecules.' And that statement is the summation of what I think music is."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sheryl Crow talks writing songs, favorite albums, tour essentials