Bill Medley Quotes

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Bill Medley

Profession : Musician

Birth : September 19, 1940

The friendship I had with Elvis began to take shape in 1968 when I was recording in Memphis. I'd record during the day, and Elvis would send one of his guys over to bring me to Graceland at night. Everything you've heard about Graceland during Elvis's glory days is true and then some.

Bill Medley

We were so busy that right before we recorded the follow-up single to 'Lovin' Feelin' I had a nervous breakdown. I just folded. I had to stay in bed for a couple of months and rest.

Bill Medley

I had fans, and the industry and everybody saying, 'Keep the Righteous Brothers going; keep the music alive,' and I really didn't want to do that. I had sung with a couple of guys who would supposedly be really good Bobby Hatfields, and I thought, 'Oh geez, it's really anti-climatic.'

Bill Medley

First off, you can't replace Bobby Hatfield. I was just blessed to be able to sing with maybe the greatest singer in the world as a first tenor.

Bill Medley

The reason I still love performing is that people my age, a little younger and a little older, show up to relive that thing that made them so happy all those years ago. And as long as they show up, I'll keep on keepin' on till I keel over.

Bill Medley

The Righteous Brothers started out in Orange County, California. It was about the whitest place in the country, but the black marines from the nearby base heard there were two guys singing rhythm and blues, so they came down to hear us. At the end of our songs they'd yell out, 'That's righteous, brother!' and that's how we got our name.

Bill Medley

George Klein says that Elvis had five real friends outside of his circle, and I was blessed to be one of them. I spent a lot of time with Elvis in Vegas and at Graceland.

Bill Medley

When 'You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling' hit, we were doing a show called 'Shindig!' and the Righteous Brothers suddenly became big business.

Bill Medley

There's this Bruno Mars guy. I met him in Hawaii when was doing Elvis imitations at the age of about five or six years old. There's a lot of old school in him. He's got a depth that I just love.

Bill Medley

The Righteous Brothers got so heavy because of the dramatic hit records like 'Lovin' Feelin.' Bobby and I just felt like we were a couple of Orange County guys who were just having a great time singing rock n' roll, and then, boy, it became something else.

Bill Medley

I'm a Santa Ana boy from 1940 to all my life. And Santa Ana was different only in the fact that Orange County was just small. Hell, I used to ride my motorcycle through the orange groves, and now it's tracts of homes.

Bill Medley

I just can't stand being in airports anymore. I just can't stand it.

Bill Medley

All my memories of being in Las Vegas with Bobby were great. Frank Sinatra brought us to the Sands Hotel in 1965. When we worked that lounge, it was a great lounge. I think it was bigger than the showroom. We were two 25-year-old dumb kids from Orange County in Las Vegas with The Rat Pack.

Bill Medley

The Old Vegas is gone. It's not that it's necessarily better or worse; it's just totally different.

Bill Medley

It sounds odd, but I was a singer and started writing songs, and I didn't have anything in mind. Maybe it crossed my mind that it would be cool to have a hit record and a career, but that was so out of reach that I don't think I thought about it that much.

Bill Medley

Opening for The Beatles in San Francisco at the Cow Palace was great. It was terrific fun to do. The tour itself, I must say, wasn't a whole lot of fun, artistically. It was just more kind of interesting.

Bill Medley

For Bobby and I to sing R&B and sound black was probably the stupidest thing we could do. White radio stations wouldn't play us because they thought we were black. Black stations wouldn't play us because they thought we were white. Any time you break ground, you go against the grain.

Bill Medley

I'm kind of a nervous guy. I know on television I look like I'm half asleep, but inside I'm going about 100 miles an hour.

Bill Medley

That was the toughest thing I ever had to do: tell my son that his mum was gone. I was a bachelor living on the beach, but I had to pull it together very quick for my boy.

Bill Medley

There were moments that Bobby and I would come offstage after performing in front of 20,000 people and say, 'Wow, how did that happen?' It's been a blessed life.

Bill Medley