Quote

I remember growing up singing; even when I was just three years old, I was singing all the time in the house. My parents said I was singing before I could even talk properly.

I sang a lot as a little girl and entered competitions. I loved singing in choirs, but it was as I got older that I really found my voice.

I started singing at age three - I opened my mouth some time, singing along to the radio, and my parents were like, 'Wow! You have a really great voice!'

I always wanted to sing, as a child.

I grew up with music in the house. I was told I could sing as soon as I started talking. Everybody in my family sang, always lots of records, blues and jazz and soul, R&B, you know, like Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Coltrane, that kind of thing.

I sang with a voice that was natural, and I liked the way I produced that sound. I thought of my other friends, that they were singing and dancing, but they didn't have this. I was special.

I feel like I was always singing. Since I could speak, I could sing. It came very naturally. In school, I was always singing in choruses and choirs. I always loved to sing; it was something to fun to do.

I always knew I couldn't sing, but I also knew I had a voice that isn't heard by many, and that I could learn how to stretch it and make songs sound good.

When I was young, my voice was so strong, and I would annoy people because I had such a loud little voice. And then it changed, and I thought I wouldn't be able to sing again, because I thought you had to sing like Christina Aguilera to be a singer.

It was my Mum who got me into singing properly - she knew I had to do something with my voice because she knew I was talented. She was the one who pushed me into joining a choir all those years ago, when I was about 12. I remember she told me to start with the choir and just see where it took me.