For Sheinelle Jones, Sara Bareilles’ music became a source of comfort during one of the most difficult periods of her life. On the September 8 episode of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, the NBC host finally had the opportunity to tell the singer just how much that music meant to her.

The emotional conversation unfolded as Jones sat down with Bareilles to discuss the singer-songwriter’s new album, Good Grief, a deeply personal project shaped by loss and the deaths of two people close to Bareilles, Chad Joseph and Gavin Creel. The album was released on August 28 as Bareilles’ seventh studio album and her first since 2019’s Amidst the Chaos.

“Her Music Spoke to My Soul”

Before introducing the interview, Jones reflected on the artists who helped her navigate the grief that followed the loss of her husband, Uche Ojeh.

Ojeh died in May 2025 at the age of 45 following a private battle with brain cancer. Jones and Ojeh, who married in 2007, shared three children: Kayin, Clara and Uche. After his death, Jones stepped away from the NBC morning show for several months before returning to Today that September. She was later named Jenna Bush Hager’s new fourth-hour co-host in December 2025 and began the role in January.

Jones explained that during the most painful period of her life, certain artists’ music had reached her in a way she could not easily put into words. She had always hoped that, if she ever had the chance to meet those artists, she would tell them what their work had meant to her.

Sara Bareilles was one of those artists.

During their prerecorded interview, Jones told Bareilles that she had listened to her music throughout Ojeh’s illness and after his death.

She recalled spending much of that time in the hospital and eventually in hospice, often with her AirPods on and Bareilles’ music playing. To Jones, the songs felt deeply personal, as though the singer were speaking directly to her.

The moment quickly became emotional for Bareilles, who was visibly moved by Jones’ words. She responded that providing listeners with comfort was the greatest hope she had for the record.

Finding Those We Have Lost in Moments of Joy

The conversation also revealed how similarly the two women have experienced grief.

Bareilles explained that she often feels the presence of the friends she has lost during moments of beauty or intense joy — when she sees something beautiful or finds herself laughing particularly hard.

Jones immediately related to that feeling.

The singer’s Good Grief explores the many different forms grief can take. Bareilles described the emotion as vast and varied, capable of appearing as anger, tenderness and even joy. Her hope, she said, was that the album could embrace those different edges of the experience rather than reduce grief to a single emotion.

That idea is also at the heart of Sara Bareilles: Good Grief, a documentary chronicling the making of the album. The film follows Bareilles as she returns to the recording studio with close collaborators for the first time in seven years, transforming personal loss into music while exploring the connections between grief, creativity and healing. The documentary made its theatrical debut on September 2.

Grief as a Path Toward Compassion

For Bareilles, one of the most profound lessons grief has taught her is the ability to connect more deeply with other people.

She explained to Jones that hearing someone speak about losing a child, a parent or a partner can create an immediate sense of shared humanity. Personal experiences with loss, she said, have made it easier for her to access compassion for others.

It is a perspective she believes is deeply needed in the world.

The September 8 episode also marked the first live edition of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle in two weeks after Jones, Jenna Bush Hager and several other Today hosts took time away toward the end of summer. Earlier in the episode, Jones shared that she had considered taking a short trip to Japan but ultimately decided that what she needed most was something much simpler: time to be still and allow her body to rest.

For Jones and Bareilles, their conversation became more than an interview about a new album. It was a deeply personal exchange between two women who have learned, in different ways, that grief does not disappear in a straight line — and that the people we lose can continue to live within moments of beauty, laughter and connection.

Today With Jenna & Sheinelle airs weekdays at 10 a.m. on NBC.

Source: https://www.tvinsider.com