Music has always been important for Sara Bareilles. She began performing in school at an early age. Later, she joined a singing group while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles.
SARA BAREILLES: "I got started my sophomore year at school, and I was just talking about it earlier. Actually, I felt like I just found my home because we were all equally geeky."
Bareilles had an easy time combining singing with songwriting.
SARA BAREILLES: "They felt very, like, they went hand in hand to me ... writing the songs and singing them. Because I think they are all so personal and I tend to be a very autobiographical writer."
Her songs are often very personal.
SARA BAREILLES: "I do write very much from my own perspective. I'm writing about things I've gone through ... and, you know, a lot of relationship stuff and just sort of how I see the world."
She talks about her album "Kaleidoscope Heart."
SARA BAREILLES: "I feel like I took more risks this time around both from the songwriting perspective and from a production point, as well. We just kind of swung for the fences. And I wanted to have ... I didn't want to limit myself or self-edit too much this time around, so I really did what felt good. I had a blast recording the record."
Sara Bareilles is best known for her 2007 hit "Love Song." You may be surprised to learn why she wrote it.
SARA BAREILLES: "It was actually written for my record label. I had been turning in new music. I was getting the red light. I couldn't go into the studio yet because they were waiting for something. But I wouldn't ... nobody said what they were waiting for. So I kept turning in new songs, thinking like, 'Is this what you want? Is this what you want?' And it was always a big thumbs down, and I ended up writing 'Love Song' out of frustration."
In her career, Bareilles has already earned several Grammy Award nominations and sold more than a million records. I'm Christopher Cruise.