Rickie Lee Jones: Why music became my bridge to the world

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Rickie Lee Jones was making up songs from the age of four. Part of a musical family - her grandparents were vaudeville stars in Chicago - she says music acted as an "accidental bridge" between her and the world. After running away from home at the age of fourteen, Rickie Lee eventually headed for California and set her heart on becoming a singer. She went from life on the breadline to fame, fortune and Grammy success at the age of 24. She tells Emily Webb about her remarkable life including her relationship with the singer Tom Waits, her secret battle to overcome heroin addiction in the late 1970s and why she feels that, as a woman, she faced more stigma as a result. She also tells Emily why she’s still inspired by the very first album she was given as a child – West Side Story. Her memoir is called Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour. Get in touch: [email protected] Picture: Rickie Lee Jones performing in Paris, France in 1979 Credit: Bertrand LAFORET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images