Sheryl Crow has spoken to the BBC about the loss of original tapes from two of her albums, Tuesday Night Music Club and The Globe Sessions, that were destroyed in a fire at Universal Studios in 2008. The fire in Los Angeles was documented in a report published by The New York Times Magazine two weeks ago, and this was when Crow reached the horrible realisation of just how much she had lost.

The report covers the breadth of damage caused by the blaze, explaining how it had been triggered by night time maintenance work, and went on to destroy master tapes from world famous artists, including Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Eminem and Nirvana, to name a few.

“That’s where all my masters were” Sheryl said on the vault fire, adding. “It absolutely grieves me” 

As well as the tapes from two of her albums, unreleased songs and alternative versions were among those lost.

It is understood the true extent of the fire was played down by Universal Music, with claims being made that the tapes had been duplicated, and were stored in back up storage facilities. The head archivist, Patrick Kraus commented that the damage caused had been “overstated”, and the company have debated the accuracy of the New York Times report.

A number of distinguished artists are now taking legal action against Universal Music, suing them for a sum of $100 million, which equates to £78 million, accusing the company of being unable to protect the tapes from the fire. These artists include bands Soundgarden and Hole, and singer-songwriter Steve Earle. Crow however, at this time, is not taking legal action.

This weekend, Sheryl Crow is set to play at Glastonbury, the first time the Missouri born singer has performed at the festival since 1997, coined over the years as “year of the mud”

Photo credit: Aisha Humphrey.