When I started singing, I was covering Lauryn Hill, Brandy, and all the girl groups of the '90s. It's just what I would listen to and what I was singing when anybody asked me to sing for them.
I think I copied my style from Louis Armstrong. Because I used to like the big volume and the big sound that Bessie Smith got when she sang ... So I liked the feeling that Louis got and I wanted the big volume that Bessie Smith got. But I found that it didn't work with me, because I didn't have a big voice. So anyway between the two of them I sorta got Billie Holiday.
Whitney Houston's voice was the very first voice I fell in love with. She was the voice that made me want to become a singer.
Aretha Franklin, she's just the most amazing singer ever. But I think there are so many singers that I just loved and sang along to on the radio. I guess I just enjoy trying out different styles along the way.
Most singers have their idols. I remember Elvis Presley when I was a kid. When I was about sixteen, I always said I wanted to do 'Love Me Tender.'
I wanted to bring back that big, ballad type of music that we used to love so much. Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, when they first came out, that's what I grew up singing.
When grandpa was ill and could've died, I would have swapped all my record sales so he could get well. He is the reason I am a singer. He was my best friend growing up.
I probably wouldn't be singing if not for Michael Jackson. When I started singing, I didn't like my tone until my mom put me on to Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, so listening to the way they used their instrument helped me get more comfortable with my own.
I've always looked up to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey for their outstanding vocal performances. I've always been inspired by them.
My greatest teacher was not a vocal coach, not the work of other singers, but the way Tommy Dorsey breathed and phrased on the trombone.
No one can sing like June Carter so I just tried to sing my very best.
I always had a love for music, but I was watching 'Sister Act 2' with Lauryn Hill, and I heard her sing, and I was just like, 'Man, I want to do that.' The whole movie overall was an inspiration for me.
When I sing I have a lot of visions. Like what's happening now in my life.
The only thing that really inspired me for singing was the movie and musical 'Phantom of the Opera.' I went to see it in the theaters, and I loved it so much. And when I got home, I started singing the songs around the house, and my mom thought I was really good, so she asked me if I wanted to do a talent competition. And I said, 'Yes, definitely.'
I always use Michael as, first and foremost, a vocal inspiration, and 'Off the Wall' was definitely the one that made me feel like I could sing.
'The Christmas Song,' by Nat King Cole, is not only a masterful performance; to me it just sounds like the holidays. I've never sung it, because Nat's version is so perfect. I gotta leave it alone.
There's lots of singers that I love; I don't know if I used any of them as role models. Maybe I would have been a better singer when I started if I had.
After I started singing, I'd go to my dad's records I grew up with in his house listening to: Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, the Carpenters, Bob Seger, Neil Diamond, voices that resonate with you, that you know who they are right away.
My idol has been Franco Corelli. But every singer can teach you something.
When I'm about to train a new opera, I first listen to how Jussi Björling did it. His voice was unique and it's his path that I want to follow. I would more than anything else wish that people compared me with Jussi Björling. It's like so I'm striving to sing.
I'm very eclectic in what I like and what I listen to. But my favorite musical ever is "The Sound of Music." That was actually one that inspired me to sing.
It was my love for the guitar that first got me into music and singing. Growing up, I was inspired by The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Damian Rice was a huge influence for me musically.
I really want to do a cover of Joan Armatrading.
I think every singer hears songs that make you want to sing them.
I am huge fan of Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Ghulam Ali and Mehdi Hassan. Listening to these people inspired me to become a singer.
