Philip Bailey Quotes

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Philip Bailey

Profession : Singer

Birth : May 8, 1951

As you live you evolve and grow and discover, and I don't like to look at anything as an arrival. I always like to look at it as a discovery and an evolutionary process.

Philip Bailey

I was always mimicking high-register singers as a kid but I also studied operating as a baritone because I'm a natural baritone.

Philip Bailey

I've been really fortunate. I haven't had any issues with my voice.

Philip Bailey

I'm really glad we came up when we did. When we got started, the record companies were concerned with building careers. They made sure you could put on a live show before you put a record out. And if your first album sold 100,000 to 200,000 copies, they were happy, because they figured you had your foot in the door on a way to a long career.

Philip Bailey

My solo albums have given me confidence in myself and a broader understanding of what I had to offer.

Philip Bailey

A lot of us have classical and jazz training, and it would be hard for us to work with a hip-hop artist who doesn't know a lot about the technical aspects of music. But when you listen to Wyclef's records, you hear bridges, chord changes and real structure. You can tell he has big ears.

Philip Bailey

It used to be that Denver was one of the most stressful cities to play because I was very nervous at coming home.

Philip Bailey

My career would not exist if not for the arts in the schools when I grew up.

Philip Bailey

The music departments in the public school system gave me a really extraordinary foundation and music appreciation that I still draw from, even today.

Philip Bailey

You have to refresh yourself with anything that you do all the time and re-tweak it, so the level of integrity associated with what people have learned to love is still the same. And so we don't get bored and fall asleep.

Philip Bailey

Interestingly enough Miles Davis was an influence, and the way he approached harmonics. And one of my biggest influences was Dionne Warwick, early Dionne Warwick.

Philip Bailey

You're always discovering other things you're capable of doing if you're out their singing. I just try to stay open to learning more things as the voice expands and grows.

Philip Bailey

In the group setting, I had a role to play, it was like being on a team. In a solo setting I'm forced to pull out all the stops.

Philip Bailey

More than anything, Earth, Wind and Fire forced me to become more aligned with the truth. After the experience of working in that band, it became clear how fleeting and deceptive fame can be. I realized that there is no better form or reference than the word of God, and it was my responsibility to be accountable for my faith.

Philip Bailey

I didn't want just a squeaky-clean book that just illuminated my stardom. For me, that would just be such a waste of time. I wanted my book to reflect real life - the highs and lows.

Philip Bailey

We all have things in which we look back and say, 'If I had a chance to do it all over again, I wouldn't do certain things.'

Philip Bailey

People don't want classic bands to sound anything other than classic.

Philip Bailey

Jazz has always been my first love. It has this timeless effect on me. It's pretty odd that I didn't become a jazz musician. I went another way because I needed to earn a good living to support my large family.

Philip Bailey

I loved the title of 'Blue in Green' - as if the color blue was seeping into green, slowly changing it and creating a new color.

Philip Bailey

When I was 9 years old, growing up in Denver in the 1960s, I'd spend hours listening to my friend's mother's record collection.

Philip Bailey