B. B. King Quotes

I've always tried to defend the idea that the blues doesn't have to be sung by a person who comes from Mississippi, as I did.

I've gotta stick to my roots, and my roots are blues.

The blues is life itself.

The blues was bleeding the same blood as me.

Rock's so good to me. Rock is my child and my grandfather.

I feel that for years of teaching in the country and reading criticism in books, I feel like the things most needed in our culture are the understanding of the meanings of our music. We haven't done that good of job teaching our kids what our music means or how we developed our taste in music that reminds us and teaches us who we are.

I know that people think of me in terms of Latin music and that's wonderful, that's my heritage, that's who I am, but there's so much more to me and my music.

The blues is like a planet. It's an enormous topic. You can't ignore the impact that it has had and continues to have on the whole musical culture. It's a tree that everyone is swinging from. Without it, I don't know where I would be. It's indelible and indispensable.

I've always loved the blues, ever since I was a kid. It has a depth to it that a lot of contemporary music doesn't have. It has pain and suffering in it, but funny stories, too. And it is built on storytelling, which is something I really love.

I was raised on the Southside of Chicago, and my whole family was musically-inclined.

I didn't want to go out and change anything. I just wanted to make the music that was part of my background, which was rock and blues and hip-hop.

For a musician to be good, he has to have humanity and care about the other guy. And as for blues - in a sense, black people have kept this country alive and given us our entire musical heritage.

As you grow older, you learn to appreciate all the artistry. I'm actually on my way back to the blues, you know, that my mothers and fathers liked.

I listen to many forms of music. And I come from a very particular style and tradition of music, which has certain elements that are absolutely unique and, therefore, important to the world.

You literally cannot deny the fact that rock and roll was born because of blues, and blues is black man's music.

I felt like it was the space that I could be the most authentic of anywhere because of how I grew up. Even though some of the songs and some of the texture wasn't what I like, I felt like country music was more authentic, in general, than anywhere else.

What you have to understand is that blues... it's in a line from the oldest forms of African music. If you're playing it like it's an echo of the past, it would be a lot less exciting, but this music lives today.

I have seven uncles, and my dad played bass, they had a band together, that was the family band. And of course as the cousins got older, including myself, we joined a family band. All the cousins played. That's my heritage.

The blues, the way it's interpreted, is always a product of your environment, and so it's almost like food. You know, it's like you use the ingredients, and you use your life experiences that you have.

Music was a big part of my upbringing. My mum and my grandma are very passionate about music.

That's how I want to be with stuff: I always want to be in country music, first and foremost, forever.

I still dabble in different types of music, but I'm sticking to my Country roots.

Music's always been in my home. My dad plays guitar, and I grew up listening to cumbia and salsa and boleros.

My father's music is all I remember from my childhood.

I have been influenced by music. I grew up listening to blues, jazz and all.