D'Angelo Quotes

People like Howlin' Wolf, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, Captain Beefheart - all of these artists were what I grew up listening to every day of my life. And there's a very healthy music scene in the west country of England, where I grew up.

I listened to King Oliver and I listened to Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp... I listened to everything I could that came from that place that they call the blues but, in formality, isn't necessarily the blues.

Many cities make music, but no city breathes music quite like Memphis. The songs and sounds that come from here are uniquely American.

I like a lot of old-school R&B, soul, and classic rock.

The many sounds of Memphis shaped my early musical career and continue to be an inspiration to this day.

Since the age of 12, all my musical thinking has been influenced by Afro-American music.

Everything musically, for me, there's two kinds of music. There's Prince and Jimi Hendrix and then Miles Davis and everything filters through that.

I got into the soul music, but I wanted to rock. I was a rocker.

Beale Street is a very famous street in the history of America. You know, American music in particular. From the blues to jazz, it's a connecting city from New Orleans that goes all the way up to Buffalo through New York.

Soul and blues were a definite influence on me. It was raw and naked emotion which you didn't get much where I come from.

I have a wide range of influences - I mean, first of all, I am a big, big fan of old soul music. Then, there's people like Donny Hathaway, Elton John... a diverse array of music.

But, I enjoy music from lots of people. And you also have to also remember that I grew up in a household where people like Fats Domino, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Earl Scruggs, and so many others were at mama's house. So, I heard everything growing up.

I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. Big time blues and music city. It's always been in my bloodline.

I don't sing white; I don't sing black - I sing Bronx. When I sing 'Ruby Baby,' I'm rolling like Jimmy Reed. I wanted to communicate like Hank Williams and groove like Jimmy Reed.

I've been influenced by so many great people, like Sam Moore, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, so many great blues and soul artists that I completely revere. So it's strange for me, actually, to hear somebody say, 'Oh, I was deeply influenced by your music.'

Truth of the matter is, jazz is American music. And that doesn't mean bebop. Jazz is really about improvising. All the music that's been created in America has been pretty much improvised... Whether it's hillbilly or rock n' roll for blues, it's basically jazz music... It's basically about another way of hearing what comes out of America.

I grew up on R&B and soul, so that backbone is always there.

My mum would play Stevie Wonder around the house, and I remember just loving the songs and feeling so blown away by how much was going on.

You don't have to play the blues to play rock 'n' roll, but that's where, somewhere along the line, your influences came from. I mean, I don't care where you got it from. If you got it from Eric Clapton, he got it from the blues.

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

My whole family's been involved with music, and it's been so since the minstrel days.

My grandfather is a blues musician.

My musical education was grounded in blues and Chicago blues - John Lee Hooker and Otis Redding.

I want to reach back to when R&B meant something, to when it made impressions on people.

I think it's all about the music you listen to along the way. For me, my parents always played Motown music and The Beatles, so I was drawn to the soul.