Singer Jewel has opened up about achieving contentment – as she once again addressed her romantic relationship with Kevin Costner.
Speaking with People, Jewel, 49, denied a romantic relationship was behind her current state of happiness.
‘I found love, and I’m not talking about Kevin’s. I’m so happy, irrelevant of a man. It has nothing to do with being in a relationship or not being in one,’ she told the outlet.
‘I’m just happy,’ she insisted, adding, ‘I’m good.’
The lengthy profile saw Jewel discuss overcoming a difficult upbringing and subsequent struggles in life – but now the Hands singer is enjoying a sense of peace.
She recounted her brief romance with actor Sean Penn and attempting to keep it private.
‘Even when I was dating Sean really early on, nobody knew I was dating him. I wouldn’t do a red carpet with him. I was just very prideful,’ she recalled.
‘I wasn’t famous and my album was flopping, like failing spectacularly. I remember going to the Venice Film Festival with him, and I could have done the red carpet and received a lot of media attention.’
‘People would’ve said, “Who is this girl?” and I could have plugged my album. But I’d rather be unknown the rest of my life than have that be the way the world was introduced to me,’ she said. ‘I don’t need fame that badly. I need to be fulfilled. I need to be happy. I need to be a songwriter. I wasn’t thirsty in that way.’
Jewel went on to tie the knot with professional rodeo cowboy Ty Murray in 2008. They have son Kase Townes Murray, 12, together and divorced in 2014.
Of their split, she said: ‘The divorce wasn’t easy. Choosing not to work for seven years wasn’t easy. Choosing to build something else other than music wasn’t easy. Insisting that I had to change and grow so I could be the most available mom, those were all things that I lived privately, and this was a way of honoring myself too.
‘I’m a lot more present now. I’m a present mom, which I worked hard on. It wasn’t easy in the beginning to be present. Divorces… you have so much grief, and it’s hard. Not wanting to let go of that dream kept me in a marriage much longer than I probably should have.’
She now has curated an immersive, 90-minute art exhibit set to open publicly Saturday until July 28.
The exhibit captures the growth and contentment she has now achieved.
She sought to capture the ‘three realms’ of existence in her exhibit – realms she says that represent the mind, physical reality, and the unknown.
Her hopes are that viewers will reflect on ‘what’s working and what isn’t’ for them after they visit the show.
‘It’s about being curious about ourselves and discovery,’ she said. ‘It’s about being aware of our three realms and being committed that we can change it and have input in it.’
‘I’m more inspired now than I’ve ever been in my life. The most since I was like 19 or 20 years old,’ she insisted.
It comes after Jewel gushed about Costner, calling him a ‘great person’ – but admitted she found the public’s ‘fascination’ with their relationship ‘intense.’
It was first revealed that the musician and the Yellowstone actor, 69, were dating back in November – six months after he split from his now ex-wife, Christine Baumgartner.
While, the pair has stayed mum about their romance so far, the artist has spoke out about it for the first time while chatting with Elle magazine last month.
‘He’s a great person,’ she told the publication as she blushed. ‘[But] the public fascination is intense for sure.’