Crow comes out in support of Jolie

Sheryl Crow has pledged her support to Angelina Jolie following her double mastectomy.

The country singer - who beat breast cancer in 2006 - has praised Angelina for speaking openly about her decision to undergo the operation after she was found to be carrying the BRCA1 cancer gene, which gives her an 87% chance of developing breast cancer and a 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer.

In a post on Twitter, Sheryl said:

The 51-year-old musician was given the all-clear after undergoing a lumpectomy and six-and-a-half weeks of radiation treatment in 2006, and she now hopes Angelina's moving story will inspire other women to get checked out.

A host of other female celebrities including Kristen Bell and Dita Von Teese have also expressed their admiration for the 37-year-old actress, who revealed she'd had the operation in a moving article for the New York Times.

'The Hunger Games' actress Elizabeth Banks shared a link to the story with her Twitter followers.

Much respect & for sharing in classy way: Angelina Jolie on why she had a double mastectomy & how it can save lives: http://t.co/UNAdDAPgsi

— Elizabeth Banks ❄️ (@ElizabethBanks) May 14, 2013

Burlesque beauty Dita did the same, posting: "Angelina's admirable, informative letter, a must-read."

In the piece, Angelina praised her fiancée Brad Pitt for his support throughout the ordeal and revealed she'd made the difficult decision so her children - Maddox, 11, Pax, nine, Zahara, eight, Shiloh, six, and four-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne - wouldn't have to see get ill with cancer.

The 'Tomb Raider' star lost her own mother Marcheline Bertrand at the age of 56 to ovarian cancer in 2007.