Ari Lennox Quotes

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.

Especially in music, you wonder, Okay, should I still be doing this? Like, are you overstaying your welcome at the party? But I don't know.

I didn't have any money. I had a sense of terrible loss. But what I also had was a fire in my belly. I wasn't going to go back to waiting tables. I felt I had to be better at fronting a band.

I always tell people that the music industry may be frustrating sometimes, but the singing never gets old. It's something I grew up doing, and I take the bitter with the sweet.

I was 17 when I released my first record. I didn't really figure out what I wanted to say, how to get a message and put it together.

I was living in Knoxville, Tennessee, and I didn't really know how you would become a singer. I didn't even think that I could do it. I didn't even dream about it. But when I was 12, it was that year where I got tall, boys got cute, everything was weird. Then my parents split up on top of that, so it was a big year of change for me.

I was always a wannabe 'singer-songwriter' but nothing was happening. I was trying for albums. I was too afraid to quit my job for nothing. But my friends kept on encouraging me. I kept on writing songs. My first hit was probably my 150th song.

In 1997, I thought I'd never make another record.

I finally decided to give music my all. If it didn't work out and I had to move home, fine. I had to give it 100% first.

If I should labor through daylight and dark, Consecrate, valorous, serious, true, Then on the world I may blazon my mark; And what if I don't, and what if I do?

To reach the highest level you have to not just have a dream and focus but you also have to make sure you are writing great songs, and if you feel they're what you want to represent you, that is key. But getting out on the road is key. And get your music out there. Maybe something catches, maybe it gets picked up and used on television, you just never know.

For the longest time, I didn't even want to admit I was serious about music. Before the Shins, I would tell myself, 'Oh, I'm going to figure something out someday.' I had this romantic vision of being this old dude maybe making guitars or something.

I know I could never be in a pop band. I honestly have an appalling voice.

I've always wanted to be a singer and an actor. I will continue to concentrate on both because I love both.

I did dancing and singing when I was little, and then when I was 12 years old my friends were taking speech and drama at school. They were private lessons, and I started doing that. Over the years everyone else dropped out and I just kept going. I loved it.

I don't like the word 'rock star' or 'super star.' I am a guitar player, a songwriter who got lucky because I stayed at it and didn't give up, long enough that people noticed me.

I never said that I wanted to be an actor when I was a kid. I didn't know. I thought I was going to be a singer and musician. That's what I had been doing, for a huge part of my life.

Whenever people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I was older, I would always say that I wanted to be a singer. When I was 12, I decided I would do something about it, so I started writing songs.

Always I was dreaming of a record contract. From 10 to 13, it was all I could think of. I worked hard for this dream. Nobody could say I didn't try.

I wanted to be a professional singer/actress, though I knew it would be hard.

There were times when I was working three jobs at one time, and I was still auditioning just to make ends meet, and I was hoping that something was going to come through. Especially after you have two degrees, standing solid through the process is sometimes the hardest part because there is no guarantee.

I loved acting when I was doing it, but getting the jobs I didn't understand because I'd never had to do it. That was a difficult lesson for me. It was very humbling and very bizarre.

I've been the teenage success, I've been homeless and driving around in my car and not knowing where to eat. You just want to keep working and learning, and I was doing that. If I hadn't done 'Wild Bill,' I'm sure I would have acted in something else.

Before I was on 'Idol,' I just sat at home and played video games all day long. Now I get to travel and work towards my dream. It's the best feeling ever.

Since I'm not good at anything else, I hope I can keep singing for a long time.