Quote

Someone like Billie Jean King is completely my idol.

I thought the Billie Holiday comparison was beautiful. I think, Wow, what a wonderful, creative, helpful spirit. She's someone who wanted to help others by sharing her emotion. That's what I do, too, so I think that's a great comparison.

I had no desire to become a singer until I heard Billie Holiday. The first time I heard her on a record, it was a revelation. She sounded like a woman singing about herself.

What I loved with Billie Holiday is she had a good way of parlaying the sorrow with a positive musical twist.

I have the ability to sing with emotion and feeling, but if you say I sound like Billie Holiday, that's cool. Let's look at who Billie was: she was this person, this singer, this beautiful diva who could move the audience with the slightest gesture of her hand.

The first time I heard a Billie Holiday record, I thought, 'What's so great about Billie Holiday?'

The kid at 9 or 10 who knows who Billie Holiday is... that's the coolest thing ever.

The one thing about Billie is he will snap and rip your head off if you point anything out at all other than how beautiful he is and how nice he looks today.

I was trying to do Billie Holiday, because she was the voice to be heard at that time.