Sheryl Crow has a new interview with Newsweek in which she talks about her own celebrity status as well as our obsession with the rich and famous. She says that she wasn’t a paparazzi target until she hit the lowest point in her life, having broken up with Lance Armstrong and learning she had breast cancer shortly afterwards. When asked about how she feels about what Britney is going through, she says we all need to step back and stop distracting ourselves from this celebrity nonsense because it’s taking away from more meaningful things in life:

As a mom, can you even imagine what Britney is going through?
The only way for paparazzi to stop chasing people around is to not buy the magazines. I would strongly encourage anyone who’s interested in that kind of stuff to not watch because every moment you spend rejoicing or distracting yourself with that is a moment that you can’t get back in your life. It’s fast food and it’s not good for us.

You’ve been a tabloid target yourself.
I was never top-shelf celebrity. I was never chased by paparazzi until my lowest point—when my public relationship [with Lance Armstrong] fell apart and I was diagnosed with breast cancer. What’s that say?

[From Newsweek via ONTD]

She makes a good point about how too much of a celebrity diet is harmful and how we should just try not to watch. The way she phrases it reminds me of the way that traffic stalls around a car crash. I’m one of those people who tries to drive at a steady pace and will myself not to waste everyone’s time behind me looking, but the temptation is hard to resist. This is the woman who also told everyone to use one square of toilet paper in order to save the environment, though she seems to have said it half-jokingly. She is right that too much gossip about other people doesn’t add much to our lives, although I feel guilty contributing to that.

Crow’s adopted son Wyatt is nine months old and she also talked to Newsweek about how active he is and how he adds a purpose to her life. She said he is trying to walk and that he crawls fast and pulls himself up. She said that having a child helps her feel a sense of urgency for how things need to change in the world and that “until you have a kid and you’re really emotionally invested in what kind of planet you’re leaving for your kid, you don’t realize the sense of urgency that you’ll feel.”

Sheryl Crow has a new CD out next week called Detours. Rolling Stone gives it a three and a half star review and says that each song is unique, but “What holds [them] together is Crow’s unwavering emotional commitment.” The LA Times calls it “a bold album that puts Crow’s convictions - and her chops as a singer and songwriter - front and center.”

You can send in taped questions for Sheryl Crow for an interview with RollingStone.com next week. They’re taking submissions through YouTube.

Here are some non-paparazzi photos of Crow at The Annual Black Ball Concert for ‘Keep A Child Alive’ on 10/25/07, thanks to PRPhotos.