Sheryl Crow speaks out on Tennessee politics, selling her Tesla and climate change: ‘I call my representatives every single morning’

Sheryl Crow is getting candid about the state of Tennessee politics.

In a cover story for Variety’s Power of Women Nashville issue, Crow opened up about voicing her progressive political views in her home state, as well as the challenges that come with her outspokenness.

“Tennessee is a hard place for me. I mean, I struggle,” said Crow, who moved to Nashville from L.A. in 2007.

“I call my representatives (in Congress) every single morning — Andy Ogles and Marsha Blackburn hear from me every day — because we have to stand up and be vocal and fight for the future for our kids.”

Crow wonders if they’re laughing when they hear her daily voicemails. “But it’s like what Jimmy Carter said: As long as there’s legal bribery, we won’t ever have fair elections,” she said. “So we have to keep raising our voices and showing up to these organized rallies.”

Over the years, Crow hasn’t been quiet about her political leanings.

She criticized the sale of guns at Walmart in the ’90s through song, has been vocal about environmental protections, and has occasionally become the target of conservative backlash from those who don’t agree with her stances.

But she can’t help speaking out, she said. “I feel like I’m fighting for my kids,” she added. “Also, that’s the way I was raised.”

A few months ago, Crow sold her Tesla, posting a video of the car being towed away on social media.

“My parents always said… you are who you hang out with. There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with. So long Tesla,” Crow wrote in her Instagram caption.

“Money donated to @npr, which is under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth.”

After posting the video, Crow said the response she experienced was a little different than other times she has spoken up.

“When I came out against Walmart carrying guns (in a 1996 song), not everybody was armed — and certainly I didn’t live in Tennessee, where everybody is armed,” Crow told Variety.

“So yeah, there was a moment where I actually really felt very afraid. A man got on my property, in my barn, who was armed. It doesn’t feel safe when you’re dealing with people who are so committed.”

Sheryl Crow supports Natural Resources Defense Council for Variety Power of Women event

For Variety’s first-ever upcoming Power of Women Nashville event, which follows the magazine issue, Crow will be honored alongside country singers Mickey Guyton, Reba McEntire and Kelsea Ballerini.

For the event, which includes a charitable component, Crow is urging support for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a group that fights for environmental protection through legal avenues.

“I’ve always been so vigilant about climate change,” Crow said.

“My parents said, ‘You need to leave the campground nicer than you found it,’ and we always did … let’s face it, I may not be here to see my kids teach their kids how to leave the campground nicer than they found it. And who knows what the campground’s gonna be like when they get it. That concerns me.”

“Right now, this organism that we live on is being disregarded, particularly by this administration, who not only don’t have it in their consciousness, it’s seen as a nuisance to business,” Crow said.

“So for me, it’s really important that this organization exists to defend our national lands and to protect our water and air.”

Audrey Gibbs is a music reporter with The Tennessean. You can reach her at agibbs@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Sheryl Crow on Tennessee politics the response to selling her Tesla