Pop Singers

"I've dedicated myself to ensuring that every word that I say, everything I write, every role that I play … I know that there's one girl in some corner of the world that's going to watch or listen to that, and I want her to feel seen and inspired or in some way empowered. That has been the guiding light in every decision that I've made in this business."

"Lyrics to me are of utmost importance and they mean so much to me — in every song that I write, the lyrics have to come from my heart and they have to be honest and true."

"Music is my first love. Ever since I was a little girl I've dreamt of one day being lucky enough to share my music with the world."

"I'm a young Latina woman growing up in a primarily white area of town where I live. I've been called it all. My hate comments on YouTube tell me to go back to where I came from. I was born in Hackensack Hospital. I'll go back there."

"It's the most jarring feeling as someone who is quite literally in therapy for impostor syndrome. You're sitting at the table with the likes of these incredible actors, singers, activists, Olympians, models who have earned their due. They earned their seat at the table, and you can't help but think, 'What am I doing here?'"

"We just need to normalise our hearts' not having boundaries. I think that there's this idea that we as public figures can't have thoughts or feelings because we are like paper dolls to a majority of the public."

"When I was in the running for María in 'West Side Story,' they kept calling to ask if I was legit. I remember thinking, 'Do you want me to bring my abuelita in?' I will. I'll bring her into the studio if you want to meet her."

"When I was a little girl, I worked tirelessly for 10 years to fill one dream, to become a Kpop idol, and I was rejected, and disappointed that my voice isn't good enough. I'm so glad to be part of a song that is helping other girls, other queens and everyone of all ages to get through their hardship to accept themselves."

"I'm done hidin', now I'm shinin' Like I'm born to be We dreamin' hard, we came so far Now I believe We're goin' up, up, up, it's our moment You know together we're glowin'Gonna be, gonna be golden Oh, up, up, up with our voices 영원히 깨질 수 없는 Gonna be, gonna be golden"

"So, so proud to be Korean. Growing up, people didn't know where Korea was or what Korea was, and that's why it's so incredible to have the song 'Golden' being sung all over the world, singing the Korean lyrics word by word."

"Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone's singing our song and all the Korean lyrics. I'm so proud. The song, this award is not about success; it's about resilience."

"I think everyone has their own time. Iba talaga sa showbiz, mabilis yung takbo ng buhay - It's really different in showbiz, life moves fast. It's hard to say but I think, for me, she (Zsa Zsa) waited long enough to be happy."

"Dreams come true if you fight hard enough for them."

"I love when artists write sad songs and they have a sense of humor to them because it’s just up my alley."

"Interviewer: You also joke a lot about death, calling it the Musona... Vanoni: I've already made arrangements: I've asked Paolo Fresu to play at my funeral, I'll wear a beautiful loose-fitting pleated dress, and I'll have my make-up artist do my make-up. I'll look great. I don't want to die late, I couldn't bear to stay at home doing nothing."

"I believe in divine timing, I always have. There are moments in everyone's life where the stars align, but it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't spent years working hard—not for the things happening now, but to stay true to my own voice and be excited about what I'm creating. I had to fight off many voices, opinions, and people controlling me when I was younger, whether in music or acting, because I was a child coming into this."

"I had become Roman at the time of Rugantino. Aldo Fabrizi taught me the slower, more indolent pace of life and acting. When we went to Milan, Garinei, Giovannini and Trovajoli would put on their fur hats and take their passports like Totò and Peppino in the film. They teased me."

"I am fond of very few things. I believe that every house has its own soul that must be respected. There is no point in dragging around baggage from other lives. You start over every time."

"I don't get any satisfaction from being Ornella Vanoni, I've never been super egocentric. I have my own way of being, people thought I was unpleasant or snobbish, but the truth is that I was incredibly shy and insecure. I cured that with theatre and with Strehler, with the audience, with music."

"I do think that men have been a super entertaining species to watch, in positive and negative ways. I feel really adored, inspired, and loved by some of them… and really confused, attacked, and ridiculed by others. When one of my female friends announces that she’s having a son, I just rejoice for that young boy. Because I know he’s going to be raised right. Correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve only been on Earth for 26 years, but I feel like we’ve always kind of had to train them. Unfortunately, it’s a tale as old as time."

"Mina is the greatest Italian singer, even though for some years now she has not cared about singing, and you can tell. I envied her greatly for her joyful success. Italy went crazy for her. Good humour exploded from this girl who moved against the whining of the time. And since she is gifted by God, she has this surprising ease: she sings with the same ease as someone doing anything else. She is still capable of evoking great emotions. It makes me angry because she makes records because it suits her, and I don't agree with that. You either do this job well or you don't do it at all. I say to myself: you have the money, so for goodness' sake make a record with Gil Evans, with a big orchestra. Enjoy yourself."

"I rule out Mina reappearing, because it would be a mistake and she doesn't make mistakes in this sense. Mina is a legend because we can only imagine her. We don't know what she is anymore. She is a memory, and that is her strength. If she did appear, it would be a huge success, people would kill to get a ticket. But she would lose her depth. In short, Mina must not be seen, otherwise she is not a legend. And she knows this very well. Legends either die young or disappear."

"The Lirico theatre was dedicated to Gaber, the two Piccolo venues to Strehler and Grassi, the Liberty building to Fo and Rame, and the Studio to Melato; there was nothing left for me, which is why I am appealing to Mayor Beppe Sala: dedicate a flowerbed in the city centre to me."

"Stendhal must have been high when he said that the landscape of Lombardy was the most beautiful in the world... This grey sky."

"(About Giorgio Strehler) The first year, he followed my tram in his car. Then he drove me home and it was love. Giorgio was such a genius and I was so overwhelmed by passion... My father lost his voice. I lived at the Piccolo, I slept with Giorgio. He was the man who loved me the most. [...] I left him, he made me suffer, he had vices I couldn't stand. But he introduced me to culture. He talked and I kept quiet: I just had to learn. He sensed that I could sing, he made me write songs about the underworld."

"[Before the general election on 4 March 2018] Who will I vote for? I'm voting for mma Bonino. The best foreign minister, a radical woman who has always fought for her beliefs. We owe abortion, divorce and living wills to the Radical Party. They fought for these three concrete things."

"Trieste is a beautiful, wonderful city; all seaside cities are beautiful, but Trieste is particularly so because it is right on the sea."

"Among those in the hip hop world, Marracash is the best, I think the Premio Tenco award is justified. But I listen to other things, I like Cosmo, I like Maneskin even if they need to write new songs, as I know they are doing... But I have to say one thing about Damiano. I'm not the type to be shocked, but even Mick Jagger, the most sinful of singers, didn't show his bare arse on stage. What's the point of showing your bum? It's not in good taste..."

"Confidence is the most beautiful thing you can possess."

"I’m not gonna say I peed my pants because that sounds really graphic and maybe not sanitary, but I think it really just caught me off guard. It was very much a childhood dream come true. I still probably have not processed it if I’m being completely honest."

"Please, please, please don't prove I'm right And please, please, please Don't bring me to tears when I just did my makeup so nice Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another I beg you, don't embarrass me, motherfucker, ah Please, please, please (ah)"

"Interviewer: What was it like to duet with [[w:Eros Ramazzotti|Ramazzotti? Vanoni: Nothing. He doesn't give off anything. When I sang with Dalla, Gino, Jovanotti, Renato Zero, something happened to me, but with Ramazzotti I didn't feel any emotion."

"I am a courageous woman, not a strong one. I am very fragile and I pay for everything with tears and effort."

"I think the best of Renato. I think he's full of imagination. It's not true that he imitates ambiguous British singers, as they say. He's been like that for 10 years, he's always dressed in a certain crazy way, he doesn't imitate anyone. He's a hybrid, but his real strength lies in the fact that he was born in the suburbs of Rome, among real people. And he has remained a “suburbanite”, with the sincerity and humanity of those people. More than ambiguous, he is one of them. For kids, he is a fairy tale, he is Disneyland, with dreams and hopes. Even for kids, he is one of them. That's why he's successful."

"(About Gino Paoli) He's a cat. I don't know, I didn't see him for three days, then I went downstairs and he was sitting on the steps of the front door. His first child was mine, but then I lost him."

"While romantic love is complicated, the love you feel for your children and grandchildren is a love made of serenity."

"Interviewer: Among the companions of her life, you mention loneliness... Vanoni: I have the letter S for Solitude tattooed on my chest. I have always felt alone. For as long as I can remember, since I was a child. A feeling of incompleteness, the certainty of having a vulnerable side and that no one can really protect you."

"Was I sensual? Yes, I realised that quite early on. And yes, of course, I played on it."

"For a poet, everything becomes material."

"The mother has a daughter Who gets married to the brother of the mother. And they all just tryna multiply with one another. Cause that's just the way of the world. It never ends till the end then you start again. That's just the way of the world, that's just the way of the world."

"Now he's thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh Is it that sweet? I guess so Say you can't sleep, baby, I know That's that me espressoMove it up, down, left, right, oh Switch it up like Nintendo Say you can't sleep, baby, I know That's that me espresso"

"Inteviewer: You are always ironic... Vanoni: Humour alleviates fear. We need to play, because we are living in tragic times. I feel exhausted and saddened after reading the newspapers and listening to the news. It seems that human beings cannot help but wage war. This is the zeitgeist: the spirit of the times is war. Then we also have Donald Trump, so we're in a bad way..."

"All my life I have been a passer-by and have always sought out secondary paths. I am always fascinated by what I do not know, and those are the secondary paths. And that is my goal."

"Milan has some beautiful areas, it is beautiful in the fog, it is a bit like a woman wearing a veil."

"I don’t consider it utang na loob (debt of gratitude). I don’t feel like it’s my obligation to take care of my parents now that they’re older just because they raised me and paid for my education. This is not so different from your relationship to your husband or wife. In marriage, you signed a contract and made your vows to be with each other no matter what. To me, these are just promises, and you have a choice not to keep them. However, if you decide to keep them, it’s because of love. You are shown love, and so you love back."

"The popularity is shocking, as was the [Sanremo] festival with its circus."

"[On joining the Radical Party] I joined not so much out of organic membership, but in response to a plea from the Radical Party, which was struggling to survive. I did it out of gratitude. I didn't vote for them; I was a socialist. I did it so that a party that had brought divorce and abortion to Italians wouldn't die."

"[On Domenico Modugno] He got really angry when I won [the Sanremo Festival] with "Non ho l'età" in 1964. He went there to win, not to participate. When he wrote "Dio, come ti amo" (Dio, come ti amo), he thought about pairing with me ("that way I'd neutralize her"). It worked, despite the sabotage from the record companies."

"I sang with the simplicity of a sixteen-year-old girl whose mind is uncluttered by prejudices. I never had any, I'm not a conformist."

"If the Choice is to repudiate the brunt, no storm in the world can stop us. The graph varies generation and culture-wise. For Gen Z and millennial females, the school of thought lies in Women Empowerment."