Controversial Quote by Ray Charles

I was always used to singing whatever I liked. I never did pay much attention to what genre it was. Of course, we had…

— B. J. Thomas

I was definitely inspired by gospel music, or old-school R&B; I got into some Good God gospel compilations.

— Yannis Philippakis

As far as I'm concerned, I'm now in the business of making spiritual records and using my voice for that purpose. I'm not going…

— Sinead O'Connor

I just was always singing. I didn't know if it was good or not, but my grandma, she told me that I sounded like…

— Ari Lennox

I like the fervor of religious music, the zealous aspect - that preachers can go from a conversational cadence into this passionate singing.

— Yannis Philippakis

gospel singing ... is the rawest, sweetest, uninhibited and exquisite sounds a person can make or hear. It isn't music, it's an entire experience…

— Lynda Barry

Gospel music was very prevalent in my house. My mother also loved Nat King Cole. That was some of the first music that I…

— Gregory Porter

I find so much freedom in singing and so much expression of my self. I feel so connected to the people in the audience,…

— Corinne Bailey Rae

Singing other people's material was perceived, I think, as a weakness of my persona. The effect, though, was to make me dig my heels…

— Rickie Lee Jones

From the church I received a spiritual foundation that has kept me balanced. From the gospel music I learned the importance of singing with…

— Oleta Adams

I grew up listening to AM radio in the '70s and hearing all of that great soul and rhythm and blues music, which definitely…

— Patty Griffin

I had so many beliefs against being a singer or what it takes. There was a lot of pain associated with that. The rejection…

— Ester Dean