It is Billie Holiday who was, and still remains, the greatest single musical influence on me.
Interpretation
Frank Sinatra expresses admiration for Billie Holiday as his most significant musical influence.
In this quote, Frank Sinatra acknowledges the profound impact that Billie Holiday had on his musical style and career. He emphasizes her importance not just in his past but as a lasting influence, suggesting that her artistry shaped his understanding of music and performance.
In practice
In a motivational speech about the impact of predecessors in any field, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of recognizing influences.
With few exceptions, every major pop singer in the US during her generation has been touched in some way by her genius. It is Billie Holiday who was, and still remains, the greatest single musical influence on me. Lady Day is unquestionably the most important influence on American popular singing in the last twenty years.
When lip service to some mysterious deity permits bestiality on Wednesday and absolution on Sunday, cash me out.
There have been many accolades uttered about Elvis' talent and performances through the years, all of which I agree with wholeheartedly. I shall miss him dearly as a friend. He was a warm, considerate and generous man.
Dare to wear the foolish clown face.
I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps
I think my greatest ambition in life is to pass on to others what I know.
It's not easy to play in a framework that requires simplicity and to tastefully find ways to interject the kind of freedom that we have in playing jazz.
I was never too keen on the British music press. They've called us a supermarket hype, and they used to suggest that we didn't write our own songs.
True country music is honesty, sincerity, and real life to the hilt.
Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams. All of them are different styles, but those are the songs that make the times. They're the songs that last through time.
I never made beats to make beats; I only made them when there was a record to make them for. That's one of the things that has changed in hip-hop that's made me like it less. It feels much more like it's a producer-driven medium, where there are all these tracks that are completely interchangeable.
I was around nine when a babysitter snuck 'Who's Next' onto the turntable. The parents were gone. The windows shook. The shelves were rattling. Rock & roll. That began an exploration into music that had soul, rebellion, aggression, affection.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.