Sheryl Crow Says Being Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Alongside Her Heroes Is a 'Giant Honor' (Exclusive)

Every day is a winding road for Sheryl Crow — and life’s curves are about to take her straight into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The singer-songwriter, 61, will be inducted into the Rock Hall on Friday in a ceremony in New York City, cementing her legacy as a music icon.

Still, Crow tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that it’s the legends that have come before her that give the recognition the most meaning.

“The people that have meant the most to me in my musical life have been inducted into this organization so to have my name in the hat with theirs, it’s a giant honor,” she says. “These people… really were the architects.”

It’s no wonder Crow has earned herself a spot in the coveted Rock Hall — after releasing 11 studio albums, she’s scored nine Grammy Awards and sold more than 50 million records. She’ll be inducted alongside stars like Missy Elliott, Kate Bush, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and the Spinners.

Though the Rock Hall has faced scrutiny in recent years for a distinct lack of female musicians (co-founder Jann Wenner was removed from the Hall’s board of directors in September after making sexist and racist comments about inductees), Crow says she appreciates the strides forward that the organization has made.

“Am I glad that more women who’ve been noticeably absent from the categories for years are finally being noticed? Yes, I’m very glad about that,” she says. “And there are quite a few women that should still be getting in… so [it’s a] work in progress. I guess nothing is perfect.”

Her hits, including “My Favorite Mistake” and “If It Makes You Happy,” are known for confessional lyrics, but Crow says it’s only by telling herself that no one will actually ever listen to her music that she feels free enough to write.

“I have this weird feeling every time I make a record that no one’s ever going to hear it, and there’s some kind of weird safety in that,” she says. “For me, writing is a way to find my way through stuff, as opposed to being really depressed or angry.”

She continues: “I think historically for me, I write about what is on the surface of my brain and I don’t think about the repercussions until I have to deal with them. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t write the songs that I’ve written.”

And she’s still writing — though Crow said in 2019 that her album Threads would be her last, she announced on Friday that a new album, called Evolution, will be out on March 29, 2024.

“I said I was never putting out another album, but there are several songs on that that I feel like are, to me, the best songs I’ve ever written,” she says. “I’m excited! You can never be too old to be excited. You can watch lines grow on your face and you can watch some of your abs start to really disappear, but you’re never too old to get excited.”

For more on Sheryl Crow, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.