Sheryl Crow knows a thing or two about broken hearts.
“I had always gone out with guys who were highly successful, which would seem like it would put me at an equal level,” Crow, whose list of past lovers includes Eric Clapton, Owen Wilson and Lance Armstrong, told Good Housekeeping.“But what ends up happening is that one of you becomes smaller — and it was always me. It’s always the woman. I mean, I don’t know if it’s always the woman, but I do think sometimes in order for one person’s light to shine, everyone else has to dim theirs.”
Crow, 52, added that her idea of relationships shifted after she took a friend’s advice. “Embrace the idea of only having equals in your life, and you’ll see your relationships change,” she said.
The singer-songwriter (who has sold 50 million albums worldwide) said she made a pact with herself that her sons, 4-year-old Levi and 7-year-old Wyatt, would get to know any potential partners as a “friend first.”
“They weren’t gonna wake up and find somebody sleeping in their house or feel abandoned because the relationship fell apart,” she explained.
But despite several failed relationships, Crow isn’t giving up on love just yet.
“I would love to get married — I’m still old-fashioned. But I don’t think marriage is the be-all and end-all. It’s better to have three broken engagements than three divorces.”