Top 25 Leon Bridges Quotes

My father would play Stevie Wonder in the car, but that never sunk in.

My mom was very religious. She might have let me buy records, but I assumed that she wouldn’t.

The first time I shared my music and style with my mom, she said, ‘Boy, you look like you came right out of the 1950s.’

My music is more than me writing a flashy soul song. They’re heartfelt songs about my family and true stories. I have also songs that aren’t personal, but just painting a picture. I don’t like being put under labels, but my music is going to continue to stay classic and timeless forever.

I’m coming from a Ginuwine and Usher background: slow and smooth songs. And that’s why I really connected to Sam Cooke, because he was just very smooth. It’s not like the James Brown types, which is all great stuff, but he was totally set apart from those guys.

Gospel music played a huge part of my life. I was too scared to audition for the choir, but through my own music, I was also able to find spirituality for myself.

I got tired of depending on other people, and I had this strong desire to make music of my own. I decided to start writing my own tunes and just see what could happen.

I shop at thrift stores and consignment shoppes. I wear my clothes as is, and maybe get them dry cleaned whenever possible.

I never really thought about my music being universal. When I set out to write, it was just a feeling that felt good to me. I never thought about being able to reach everybody.

My mom is a very religious woman. So when I began recording music, I was afraid she wouldn’t accept it. But when I played her a song, she loved it.

I’m not trying to compete with any other revival soul acts. It’s just Leon Bridges, a kid from Fort Worth trying to be himself and give people hope. It’s great music to dance to and just love.

My mom is very excited for the fact that I got signed and, of course, being a mom, she’s going to be a little worried.

Fame and all that type of stuff is inevitable, but I’m very content having a good band with no negativity, and everyone is on the same page.

I’m very content to have great management and a great label. But for me, success started when my managers came to me and told me, ‘Go ahead and quit your job.’ I told them, ‘As long as I don’t have to wash dishes anymore, I’m good.’

I’ve just always been around great songwriters. To me, they were the standard.

I don’t like a lot of attention. That’s kind of who I am at heart. So I see everything, the people circulating around me and a lot of people know me – it kind of feels like a heavy weight sometimes.

I’ve always had a very clear vision of what I wanted to do.

I’ve always had a great work ethic, even when I was washing dishes.

It’s kind of weird – I get shy when I’m around new people, still, even when I’m onstage. I come from not really wanting to be in lights or known or in front of people.

When I first got into the music scene, I was inspired by different songwriters. I like to dress from the ’50s and ’60s. I like to paint a picture of that era through my music and clothes. I am inspired by a whole a lot of things, from doo-wop to gospel and soul music.

For me, making music just starts with a simple melody, and lyrics will come sometime after that.

The first time I heard Sam Cooke was in the ‘Malcom X’ film. I was with my father, and that’s the first time I heard his song. I remember my father telling me the story of Sam Cooke.

A lot of R&B cats are doing a lot of auto-tune. Tyrese went back to the basics. I love classic soul music and Ginuwine. Ginuwine and Usher laid the foundation back in the ’90s. There’s no one doing that anymore.

I like to groove a little bit!

If I went crazy and tried to make pop music, my band wouldn’t record it! I love them too much to do that.