Sheryl Crow left LA to ‘put down roots’ in Nashville after cancer battle, Lance Armstrong breakup

Sheryl Crow opened up about her decision to leave Los Angeles behind to start a new chapter of her life in Tennessee.

During an interview with Variety published Wednesday, the 63-year-old singer reflected on how her move to Nashville nearly 20 years ago was prompted by her sudden cancer diagnosis and painful breakup with then-fiance Lance Armstrong as well as the loss of the family that she would have had with him. 

"We all have those moments in our life where we have to pivot," Crow said. "I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, and I moved here in 2007."

Sheryl Crow decided to move from Los Angeles to Nashville after finding herself at a crossroads in her life. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

"I think having come out of a relationship where I thought I was gonna be married and was close to the kids that were gonna be my stepkids, then got diagnosed — all three of those things made me reassess," she added. 

SHERYL CROW ADMITS MOVING FROM LOS ANGELES TO TENNESSEE ‘SAVED MY LIFE’

"I just looked at it and thought, ’I want to put down roots; I want to have a family,'" the nine-time Grammy Award winner added. "My sisters live here, and my family all lived within three hours, and I just decided to start phase two."

Crow and Armstrong began dating in 2003 and announced their engagement in 2005. However, the musician and the former professional cyclist's relationship ended when they called off their engagement in February 2006.

"It is like a death," she told Diane Sawyer in a July 2006 interview after the breakup. "And in many ways it's like having part of your life amputated, but you still have that phantom itch, you know, where you wake up, and I'll see something and think, 'Oh, I've got to make sure Lance is hip to this band. I've got to put it on his iPod.' And then I remember, 'Oh, wait, you know, that's not my life.'"

Armstrong, 53, told author Josh Wilcockson in 2009 that their relationship broke up over her "biological clock" because she was in her mid-40s and wanted children, according to the New York Post. The former athlete, who was already father to son Luke, 25, and twin daughters Grace and Isabelle, 23, whom he shares with his ex-wife Kristin Richard, said he did not want to have more children at that point.

Crow discovered she had cancer two weeks after splitting from Lance Armstrong. (Chris Polk/FilmMagic)

Two and half weeks after their split, Crow underwent a routine mammogram, which she said that she almost skipped amid the tumult in her personal life. 

"I was going through a public breakup and battling with paparazzi, all while trying to focus on my career," she wrote in an 2022 op-ed for People magazine.

Crow continued, "I’ve always been a healthy person who prioritized eating well and exercising, but at that time it seemed impossible to focus on anything other than getting through each day and keeping my career going."

The singer's mammogram led to a biopsy which revealed that she had stage zero ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in one breast. Crow subsequently underwent a lumpectomy in both breasts and seven weeks of radiation.

After treatment the singer went into remission, and she is now an advocate for early detection. (Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

In a November 2023 interview with People magazine, Crow shared that her cancer diagnosis was a pivotal moment in her life that made her question what she had done to deserve it. 

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"I hold myself up to the standard of being a really good person, so to find myself lying on a radiation table facing my mortality, there are a lot of questions that go along with that: ‘What did I do wrong? Why do I deserve this?’" she said.

After treatment, Crow went into remission and became a vocal advocate for early detection, stressing the importance of routine mammograms.

Crow is mother to sons Wyatt and Levi. (Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images)

In April 2006, Crow relocated from LA to a rural town outside Nashville, where she bought a 150-acre horse farm named Cross Creek Farm.

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The "Everyday in a Winding Road" singer adopted her oldest son Wyatt, 18, in April 2007, a little more than a year after her breakup with Armstrong and her cancer diagnosis. She later adopted son Levi, 14, in 2010. 

In 2014, Crow sold Cross Creek Farm and bought a house in West Nashville. She previously explained that she decided to move closer to the city for her sons.

 "We were quite a ways out and starting preschool," she told Architectural Digest in 2019. "It was time."

Crow said that Nashville is an ideal place to raise her sons. (Getty Images)

The Missouri native told the outlet that she built a barn and stables on the estate, which also features a recording studio, a saloon and a chapel.

While speaking with Variety, Crow said that she does not regret moving to Tennessee, and living in Nashville keeps her grounded. However, she added that she had always been down to earth due to her background.

"I think it makes a huge difference when you’ve punched a time clock," she said. "I was a schoolteacher after college, and I didn’t make my first album until I was 29."

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In 2023, Crow told the New York Times that she felt Nashville was an ideal place to raise her children out of the spotlight.

"It's great to have my kids grow up with the mentality that they live in a community, they owe their good fortune to helping other people, there are no paparazzi there," she said.