JEWEL - JEWEL LIVED IN HER CAR FOR A YEAR BEFORE FINDING FAME

JEWEL LIVED IN HER CAR FOR A YEAR BEFORE FINDING FAME

Country star JEWEL lived in a car for a year before she was discovered at the age of 19, after a sleazy boss fired her for refusing him sex.
The singer, now 34, failed to land another job, couldn't afford rent, and almost died after falling ill, because she couldn't afford medical insurance.
She explains, "I had a job answering phones in an apartment. One day my boss took me aside to have a talk with me, and half way though I realised he was asking to have sex with me.
"When I turned him down he decided not to give me my pay cheque. I got kicked out of my apartment because I couldn't pay the rent. I thought I'd live in my car until I could get enough money to get another apartment. But I got sick kidneys and actually almost died in the parking lot of an emergency room because they wouldn't see me, because I didn't have insurance."
But there was a fairytale ending for the star. She adds, "I was homeless for about a year while I tried to get into singing, and then a radio station played one of my songs on the air and a record label heard it. It was like being Cinderella... limousines started showing up."