Steve Poltz

Steve Poltz is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist whose name is tied to a song that climbed to number 2 in the US: "You Were Meant for Me", the 1996 single he worked on with Jewel. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1960, he grew up partly in Pasadena and later Palm Springs, California, and earned a degree in political science at the University of San Diego. As a founding member of the indie-rock band the Rugburns and a solo artist of acoustic sing-along shows, he has built a following on warm, unfussy songwriting.

Coffeehouse and bar dates built the Rugburns a following, and a residency at San Diego's Innerchange Coffeehouse led to his partnership with Jewel, with whom he toured, wrote songs and appeared in the video for "You Were Meant For Me". His debut solo album, One Left Shoe, came out on Mercury Records in 1998, but a dispute over artistic direction led him to leave and found 98 Pounder Records. Chinese Vacation, from 2003, was shaped by September 11 and the death of a close friend. Stardust & Satellites appeared on Red House Records in 2022, and in 2025 he contributed a cover of Joel Plaskett's "Absentminded Melody" to the tribute album Songs from the Gang.