Nellie McKay Quotes

And as long as people want to hear me sing, I don't know why I'd retire.

My whole career from the early 70s on has been mind-blowing. I didn't imagine in my life that I would ever be considered a guitar player first of all because I started off as a singer.

I wanted to be a rock star when I grew up, or at least a singer/songwriter.

If you want to be a rock star or just be famous, then run down the street naked, you'll make the news or something. But if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually you'll get to where you want to be.

I love the fact we're still on the road. I was born to be a factory worker really, so for me the chance to get on stage at Wembley 30 years after we started is amazing.

I was trying to become a legitimate trumpet player, and I had a scholarship to Eastman School of Music. I was really on my way. But I didn't take the scholarship. I got sidetracked, because when summers came around, I started playing with a rock-and-roll band.

Selling a band predicated on nothing is always an interesting proposition, and of course, the fact of the matter is that I really started out in music before I ever acted, and I've done a ton of singing.

My career could've been anything, I just wasn't that good at other things. I'd say it was fairly easy starting out as I did in LA, meeting some great friends and musicians and landing a record deal. That's where the hard work began though.

I started out doing the acting, and there was always an interest in music, and then the music just took off.

I'm out here living my dream. People are listening to my music.

It's hard becoming a member of a girl group among so many competitors. You have to have luck and also need to work hard.

At seventeen years old, I found out I could sing, and I got up and sang in a club, and I got a big hand, and I thought, 'I'm gonna continue this.' So that's how it all began.

My autobiography would be 'Loves music, loves art, works hard, writes music, tours the world, makes records.'

There's successes you have in your career. For me, for example, as a guitar player, as somebody in a band putting out albums, the success that we have in our field and how we're viewed by our fans; that type of success means more than anything to us.

I think that becoming a successful rock band is a little like becoming a professional athlete. Nobody plans on it.

My dad Peter, who was my roadie when I was starting out, had loads of confidence but couldn't sing.

I've been doing music in some form since I was seven years old.

I can count on less than five fingers the things I can do well, so I'm just going to stick to those. It's crazy; it's literally all I've ever wanted to do in life is sing and play and get out there and rock.

For me, as a kid desperate to make music, I thought the only way I could do it was to try to be a superstar - which is a fun thing to be, but it can be exhausting and degrading.

When I was 17, my main goal was to be in a band and travel the world. I ended up getting to do that with my old band Hey Monday. I got to see the world and learn how to tour, and the next thing I knew, I was on 'The Voice.' So it was just a crazy, crazy ride.

Piper took me one step further in that it got my first real recording contract but the band just didn't quite mature. It didn't break things open, but it got me to the door.

We've been playing together since we were 13, and from the age of 18, we've had a record contract. I think that we've been incredibly lucky, yeah. But we deserve it.

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.

I've been composing and performing for as long as I can remember.

Once I realized music was working, I was getting money off of shows and I figured that I could find success through music.