Women Singers

"For years, as I've said, Bob has worked hard for our family's sake to cut traveling to a minimum. But there are some 300,000 miles that he and I shared that we wouldn't take back for anything. I mean the world-famous Bob Hope Holiday tours to the armed forces stationed in remote posts overseas, on behalf of the U.S.O. "Go with us one time, Anita, and it will get into your blood," Bob Hope suggested in 1960, the first year Bob and I were married. "You'll never play to a greater audience.""

"I'm convinced that when you turn your business over to God entirely, He not only will send you exactly the type work that's best for your talents and your nature, but He'll help you begin to aim higher, so your ambitions will become more worthy of Him. It becomes a matter of really trusting the Lord to provide. This has to be learned. It may sound strange to those who don't operate the way Bob and I do, but we absolutely know the Lord will open all the right doors."

"Those girls who give themselves to the man they love before marriage really succeed in cheating themselves. I know and understand how strong the temptation is, but also I know something else: there is nothing else more beautiful and wonderful than sexual love between marriage partners- when that love is entered into and blessed by God. Why would anyone want to accept anything less?"

"If homosexuals are allowed to change the law in their favor, why not prostitutes, thieves, or murderers? [...] Some of the stories I could tell you of child recruitment and child abuse by homosexuals would turn your stomach."

"If homosexuality was the normal way, God would have made Adam and Bruce."

"Anita Bryant, the godmother of modern anti-LGBTQ+ moral panics, died on December 16, 2024 at the age of 84, so it’s finally time that we eulogize her life’s most meaningful accomplishment: getting pied in the face for being such a rabid bigot. Bryant, whose family confirmed her death in an obituary this week, was named Miss Oklahoma in 1958 and rose to fame as a singer in the 1960s. But in 1977, Bryant torpedoed her own performing career by becoming the spokesperson for a campaign to repeal a Dade County, Florida ordinance banning anti-gay discrimination — a decision that would make her name synonymous with homophobia for the next 50 years."

"And school children catch on inevitably and quickly. Little pitchers have big ears, as our forebears were fond of saying, and it's still true. Their reasoning is stark in its simplicity and as certain as sunrise: "If it's okay to hire a pervert to teach in a public institution and if it's okay to pay a pervert with tax money and if it's okay to put a pervert in charge of the educational destinies of children, then it must be okay to be a pervert." This, fellow Americans, we simply cannot have. We cannot have it because the actual survival of our country in the years ahead depends upon a generation which will be straight, not distorted- sensible, not absurd. Where do I sign up for the duration, General Bryant?"

"Here's why I'm lining up in the Bryant Brigade. Not because I want any American denied his or her constitutional rights. Not because I want particularly to be beastly to the bisexual or nasty to the nance. No, it's because children- especially young children- reason this way, and you'd better believe it: "Mom and Dad tell me to mind the teacher, to listen carefully to what she tells me. So what she does and what she is must be okay, fine and dandy." But what the homosexual teacher does and is are most emphatically not okay, fine or dandy at all. Such people, whether willingly or unwillingly, are abnormal by the very definition of the word. The ancient Jews who wrote the Torah used an interesting term to identify the act of sodomy: "confusion." That's what it is, you know. Confusion of the sex roles. Confusion of the biological purpose behind the sex act. Confusion of masculinity with femininity. Confusion thrice combined."

"I am so thrilled — because I know that everybody was against you. I honestly think that we were all being very cynical — and I think that's the biggest wake up call ever, and I just want to say that it was a complete privilege listening to that."

"I'm trying to be a professional singer. … I've never been given the chance before. But here's hoping it'll change."

"Modern society is too quick to judge people on their appearances. There is not much you can do about it; it is the way they think; it is the way they are. But maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an example."

"It was nerve-racking to begin with but once I started and the audience accepted it I relaxed. It has been surreal. I didn’t realise this would be the reaction I just got on with it. I can hardly remember what happened. I had my eyes closed most of the time. It really didn’t dawn on me what was happening. I did it all for my late mum. I wanted to show I could do something with my life."

"It was a very emotional night. It goes quiet when Susan sings, it always does. She always has that effect."

"Susan Boyle is the ugly duckling who didn't need to turn into a swan; she has fulfilled the dreams of millions who, downtrodden by the cruelty of a culture that judges them on their appearance, have settled for life without looking in the mirror. This is a huge constituency, and it is weary of being disparaged. Women need an avenging force like Susan Boyle. No matter how brave, strong or resourceful they are, they get punished for not being glamorous; for being ordinary; careworn. At best they are treated as if they are invisible, at worst they are regarded as freaks. Which is what the TV audience did with Ms Boyle until she started to sing."

"I can remember the moment she first opened her lips perfectly. We were at a big theatre in Glasgow, 3000 people were laughing their heads off, Simon and Amanda were stifling a chuckle, and then she started to sing. And I can honestly say it was one of the most extraordinary moments in my perhaps equally unlikely career as a talent show judge. Because Susan Boyle is not just a good singer, she’s a fantastic singer. Someone whose stunning range, tone and delivery is worthy of comparison to anyone — Elaine Paige included. As I watched her performance back again last night, I texted Simon in Hollywood: ‘My god, Susan was even better than I remembered — she’s unbelievable.’ He agreed, and I could almost feel his beady little eyes going ‘KERCHING!’ down the line from his new Beverly Hills mansion."

"Without a doubt that was the biggest surprise I've had in three years on the show."

"Get up in the morning and you like your tea milky, You fumble for your glasses coz without 'em you cant see, It's funny how I come round your house and I'm 20 and I still have to wear all the presents you sent me. I walk into your kitchen everything's got a label, you done your Christmas shopping and we're only in April. And you wont leave the house unless your wearing your thermals, you're covered all in cat hair and you're stinking like Strepsils, Your heading down the Bowls Club, have another orange squash. Balls are rollin rollin rollin. You can't walk right coz things aren't what they were, your ankles are swollen swollen swollen."

"I'm not trying to say, That I'm smelling of roses, But when will we tire, Of putting shit up our noses."

"I don't know what's right and what's real anymore And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore And when do you think it will all become clear? 'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear"

"I was so lost back then, But with a little help from my friends I found a light in the tunnel at the end. Now you're calling me up on the phone, So you can have a little whine and a moan. And it's only because you're feeling alone."

"Riding through the city on my bike all day Cause the filth took away my license It doesn't get me down and I feel OK Cause the sights that I'm seeing are pricelessEverything seems to look as it should But I wonder what goes on behind doors A fella looking dapper, but he's sitting with a slapper Then I see it's a pimp and his crack whore."

"And if you have a minute why don't we go Talk about it somewhere only we know? 'Cause this could be the end of everything, So why don't we go Somewhere only we know?"

"We are the youth, we can make coolness for our future, it's up to us. Go green and hate hate."

"I’ve actually broken up with boyfriends for inspiration."

"Until we command the exact same salary as every male counterpart, I feel a political desire to stand by other women. If we don’t stand together, that equality will never be fully realized, and that bothers me. I see very little in our culture, actually, of women necessarily standing up for one another. I think there’s still an underlying fear if one woman has the light shone upon her, it takes away from your light, which of course is not the case at all. But I think when you’re young, you maybe fear that."

"I'm a sucker for tragedy - I love the death scenes."

"I have done. Well, I've shared a moving vehicle with 18 naked men — not many women do that... fantastic, never felt better."

"I like communicating. I think it’s as simple as that. I get really lonely and dark if I can’t communicate with people."

"I hate the thought of animals being killed just for our pleasure..."

"I recorded Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis performing Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin together... For me there were several moments that still seem a little unreal [like] realising just how technically and musically accomplished Leona Lewis is as an artist. I've not worked with many singers in the pop world who can discuss coloratura technique, and operas by Purcell and Bellini. [...] Leona can really sing with heart and soul, balanced with quite astounding technique."

"She is probably the best vocalist right now, in our time. [...] Around the world, I have seen her play live, and oh my goodness gracious, she just has the most angelic, amazing range ever."

"She's a supreme perfectionist and knows her own voice better than any artist I've ever worked with. She's like a scientist when it comes to working in the studio."

"I've had no demands, no weird requests for strange-colored water or cushions. She's exactly the same person I met two years ago."

"I may not be loud but that doesn't mean I'm not strong within myself. My mum and dad instilled in me to stand up for what I believe in – and I do."

"No one is "the next" anyone, especially if that person is still here, doing their thing, as she [Mariah] clearly is. The comparisons people have made to me are so flattering, but I think it's insensitive to the people I'm compared to."

"You have to have the courage to stand up for what you believe in – no matter how hard it is – as your beliefs make you who you are amid all the celeb madness. I'm a vegetarian and never wear leather or use products tested on animals. When I was just starting out I'd get a gazillion freebies thrown at me, so it was hard to know what contained what. Now, I've made sure that before I get to a photoshoot people know my stance on that."

"He [Simon Cowell] is actually very lovely in real life. We share the same interests, and he shares my love for animals as well."

"My friends are the ones I've had since primary school. They're really cool and such a good bunch of people. They came to every one of my gigs before all of this happened, you know; they were there in the smoky pubs, wherever."

"I'm trying to stay as healthy as possible but there's no pressure to be really skinny. No. That's just a bit wrong."

"Those women are the true divas. They're amazing performers, whom I've listened to for years. These are the people who've inspired me to sing, so it's flattering that I'm being compared to them. But I have a lot of hard work to do first."

"I went to Clive Davis' Grammy party and I nearly spontaneously combusted because everyone on my iPod was there!"

"Diamonds are supposed to be a girl's best friend but it's impossible to know for sure where they have come from so I find it is safer just to avoid them altogether."

"I am vegetarian, so I don't have clothes, shoes or bags made from leather or suede or any animal products. Shoes are hard to find. These are fake Uggs. And I've got a pair of vintage boots, which are PVC."

"Whatever happens to me from now on, I can't ever imagine wanting to distance myself from The X Factor, or having a bad word to say about it, because the show opened doors for me that had never opened before."

"I was at a really low point, thinking of going to university and doing a course because the music thing just wasn't happening for me. But I went on the show and..."

"I'd always been quite quiet growing up, and singing was a way of having a voice."

"I'm not a loud, extravagant person; I'm never going to be that and, to be honest, I don't want to be like that. I don't show off or boast, and it's pointless to think I'm going to be any different."

"[People] would ask me, "what do you want to be when you're older?" and I'd be like, "a singer", and they'd be like, "what do you really want to be?" and I'd be like, "oh, I really want to be a singer.""

"If I woke up tomorrow morning and it was just a dream, it would be the best dream I've ever had, and I would be ― I would not be happy to be waking up! [laughter]"

"I don't know who my audience is. People have said there is an integrity about me, and I think there is. I don't try to follow a trend. I have my own little path, and although I delve into things, I stay with what I am. I'm quite natural with it. Maybe people feel comfortable with that and they trust it, so they buy it. They'll come and see me in concert. I think I always do a good job in that area."