Ella Henderson Quotes

I took temp jobs, recorded a demo in the evenings and eventually shopped a record deal. All I knew was that I wanted to write songs; thankfully, I also got to sing them.

I'm a songwriter and I'd love to make that a part of my career.

One not-to-be-mentioned major said they would sign me if I worked with a team of songwriters to help me finish songs, ha! Of course, in hindsight, I should've done it just to see what that would have been like.

I never had my mind set on being an entertainer in the music business.

I went to college to find myself. That's where I really realized I wanted to be a recording artist and started on the process of figuring out how to do that.

I want to be a producer and not a songwriter.

Signing with Sony/ATV was life changing for me.

I've been working in music since I was a little kid. I would do background singing in my dad's studio all the time when I was a kid. I went to label meetings when I was pretty young, and obviously my goal was, like, 'No, we're gonna hold off.'

Even to be flown out to New York was mind boggling for me, and signing with Columbia was great because they really understood my vision. Of all the labels that I met, they were the ones that really seemed to understand that I was really about the music, the writing, and the lyrics, so it was really fulfilling to sign with them.

I mean there are tons of reasons. Well first of all. I write my own record. I don't take other people's materials. And I have a job which is being Willa Ford on top of getting back in the studio and writing and recording.

I've had offers to sign a record deal, but the people I've talked to have wanted to package me and have me meet with songwriters who've written stuff for Whitney Houston, that sort of thing. That's not at all my style.

Even at my biggest, I want to be writing for other artists. Even at my peak - the highest I can be as an artist - I always want to be keeping my creative juices flowing, keeping money in the bank, putting my intellectual property out there.

When I was young, I was offered my first recording contract in 1971 and was offered quite a bit of money if I would change my character and be a '70s version of Cher.

A lot of people who were writing when I came through originally as a singer-songwriter have disappeared.

When I came back to California in the early '60s I was hanging out with Jimmy Bowen, Phil Spector, and I wanted to be a record producer and work with other artists.

I want to be the president of Columbia Records, maybe C.E.O. - kind of like L.A. Reid.

I don't think people really understood what I did. And you know, in my book, 'A Helluva High Note' deals with my back story, that I was a songwriter, that I spent years trying to hone my craft and being rejected and then finally becoming a successful songwriter, record executive and publisher.

I'm just focusing on 'Let's Stay Together' and slowly building my production company. I'm trying to get into writing as well.

This is truly a blessing. Breyon Prescott, Peter Edge and Tom Corson believe in me and have introduced me to a home that also believes and knows exactly what to do with the type of music I'm doing.

I would love to continue working behind the scenes in music - to produce and manage up-and-coming musical talent would be a dream!

I was signed to a record label at the same time as my friend Elliot Murphy, who makes great records to this day.

I think, back in the day, when I was first starting to make music, all I wanted to do was to get a record deal.

I started singing when I was 18 and landed my first record deal with RCA when I was 26 after a lot of grafting singing in pubs and clubs.

I've been through the entire gamut of the music industry - I've been playing in clubs since I was 14, and I've been on Warner Bros, on Sony - I've had lots of successes and some serious times of struggle.

After two years in the songwriting world, I wrote 'All About That Bass.' L.A. Reid heard it and signed me as an artist.