She's commanded a stellar career spanning over 20 years and 12 studio albums, but singer-songwriter Jewel says the dark side of the music industry has followed her since she was just a little girl learning the ropes.

The 41-year-old has explained how she has fought off sexual harassment from men since she was just eight, and that it only worsened as she grew older and became more successful.

'I've had men hitting on me, sadly, since I was really young,' the four-time Grammy nominee told The Hollywood Reporter.

'At 8, I had men putting dimes in my hands saying, ''Call me. It'd be so great to f--k when you're older''. And just horrible stuff.'

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'I've never slept my way to the top': Jewel, 41, has revealed she was just a little girl when men started offering her money for sex, and that the harassment didn't stop as she got older and more successful

Alaska's favorite daughter came from incredibly humble beginnings.

She grew up in a saddle barn on a 600-acre homestead in Homer, a fishing town in Kenai Peninsula Borough, with no heat or running water.

Her family would live off what they could kill or find themselves and would pick berries to make jam.

My boss fired me because I wouldn't sleep me and I ended up homeless for a year

She started singing at eight-years-old, becoming a duo with her father, Atz Kilcher, following her parents divorce.

'We sang at Veterans clubs and bank openings, and biker bars and honky-tonks all over the state,' Jewel wrote in the biography on her website.

'My dad is a good performer. He taught me not to use a set list, but instead just to read the crowd.'

At 15, she moved to Michigan to attend a fine arts school on a partial scholarship, raising the rest of the money by working several jobs and performing a benefit concert at her local high school.

She 'drifted' after graduation and ended up in San Diego, where she worked answering phones in a computer warehouse, but not for long.

'My boss fired me because I wouldn't sleep with him, and I ended up homeless for a year,' she wrote in the biography.

The Alaskan singer-songrwiter, who has sold over 27 million albums worldwide, went from meager beginnings to super stardom, but says the journey was tough in the male-dominated music industry

Desperate and broke, Jewel was forced to live in her car, where she would write songs to pass the time.

She told THR that men would constantly approach the car and hit on her.

'I've never been more propositioned by businessmen in my life,' she said.

'It was almost like they were sharks that could smell blood, like of vulnerability.

'They would be like, ''Hey, do you need rent money?'' and things like that.

'I never took anybody up on it, but it was interesting to see this side of men that basically would prey on somebody vulnerable.'

She started singing her songs in a coffee shop, The Inner Change Cafe, and developed a following.

However no one knew she was homeless.

After a local radio station played a demo of hers, record label executives started to come and watch her perform.

'There was a bidding war between several labels for me!' she recalls.

'I couldn't believe it!

'I went with the label that didn't want me to change and let me be a simple songwriter.'

That label was Atlantic Records and Jewel was 18 when she signed with them.

The songs she wrote in her car and played in that coffee shop would inevitably become her 1995 debut album, Pieces of You, which to date has sold over 12 million copies in the US.

The record is considered one of the best-selling debuts of all time.

From homeless to a superstar: Jewel is seen here performing in 1995, after signing her first record deal

'I went with the label that didn't want me to change': Jewel attends an event in New York in 1996.

Historic: Pieces of You, released in 1995, went on to become one of the best-selling debut albums of all time

Jewel has now sold a total of 27 million albums worldwide.

On Friday she releases her 12th effort, Picking up the Pieces, but the road to get where is has not been easy.

'The music industry is a very male-dominated business,' Jewel THR.

'I never slept my way to the top, ever.

'There was never one time I've ever compromised anything. I was always willing to walk away.

I've never slept my way to the top, ever

'I felt men were willing to take advantage if they saw something vulnerable.'

But Jewel credits the understanding she was afforded so young for allowing her to protect herself against men as she grew older.

'I learned to keep my energy to myself, where there’s nothing about me that seemed approachable,' she told THR.

'And as men did approach me, I got very good at handling men in a way that sort of didn’t anger them.

'And at the same time using wit and usually humor to defuse the situation and to inform them, ''P.S. Not available that way''.'

Picking up the Pieces, a hark back to her folk roots and the days of just starting out, will be released Friday, September 11.

The lead single, My Father's Daughter, featuring Dolly Parton, was released in August.

So far the album has received glowing reviews, with critics saying it is 'the most raw Jewel has been in 20 years'.