In New Orleans, music is part of the culture. You're raised with it, from the cradle to the grave, and all in-between.
— Aaron Neville
When I first went out on the road with Larry Williams, there was also, like, The Coasters, The Drifters, and The Flamingos.
I dig Steve Harvey: he's the suit man. I be checking him out.
When I sang, I couldn't help making those little curves. People would say, 'Why don't you sing straight?' But I have always had to put something in.
I never left doo wop.
New Orleans will always be in my heart. New Orleans raised me - it's in my blood.
I am very honored and excited to have 'Devotion' released as the first DVD Audio disc... surround sound is amazing... The music comes alive and is so vibrant - it's unlike anything you've ever heard before!
The music of the Clovers and Spaniels and the rest was like candy to me. I couldn't get enough; my teachers probably thought I had attention deficit disorder.
You've just got to sing, do some kind of singing every day. Early mornings and cold weather can mess with that. I drink special teas with cayenne pepper, but I think you're psyching yourself out, really.
Be honest, be nice, be a flower not a weed.
Age and numbers are a concept made up by man.
That's one thing you hear in my voice today. I could yodel from one octave to another octave. It always fascinated me.
I always feel I'm blessed, you know. I thank God for letting me use his voice. That's how I see it.
I used to always sing my way into the movies and the basketball games or whatever. I'd sing for whoever's on the door, and they'd let me in. I used to think I was Nat King Cole back in the day, you know. So I'd sing something like, 'Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you,' and they'd let me in.
I've been into every doo-wop there is. I think I went to the university of doo-wop-ology.
Don Was is a friend of mine; we've done projects together over the years.
The gospel music and doo-wop is what has informed me personally.
You never know how much time you got.
I'm waiting for them to come up with a 'Star Trek' thing so they can beam me from my house to the gigs and back.
Beyonce is cool, and she can really sing.
Man, I was scared. I didn't know what to think. All of a sudden, I got a record climbing the charts, and I'm out in the streets. You know, workin' on the docks. And the first week, it sold something like 40,000 in New Orleans.
When I'm singing, it's a mixture of my innocence in the projects, my mom and dad. It's all the good and the bad, the laughs and the frowns that I went through and seen other people go through. Then you be trying to write it. Whatever's coming out, you try and make it all cool.
Singing is a prayer to me.
I think St. Jude helped me achieve some miracles in my life - that's why I wear the medallion in my left ear and never take it out.
There are so many songs in my heart and in my brain. I wake up at 2 in the morning, and I have to get up and sing them. There are so many of them, it's ridiculous.
Every day, some act of kindness comes my way, even if it's just someone opening the door. It happens every day if you keep an eye out for it. Keeping an eye out, that's the key.
God is waiting for us, to forgive us all, and what is broken, he'll fix.
My favorite prayer is Footprints in the Sand. You know that prayer? I know the times that he carried me, you know? I kind of wore him out.
When I was living in the projects, I had a mop stick for my horse. I wanted to be Gene Autry or Roy Rogers, so I would ride my mop through the projects.
My dad and my mom were big Nat King Cole fans, so they had everything he did.
My brother Art was a doo-wopper. He had a group that sat out on a park bench in New Orleans and sang harmonies at night, and they'd go around and win all the talent shows and get all the girls, you know.
When I was growing in the Callope project, we had an oval parkway. Pavement ran around this whole thing. We'd skate or ride bicycles. There were benches and trees out there. It was paradise to us. They finished building it the same year I was born.
Singing is my entire life. I nearly lost that. I am so blessed to be able to do this. It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do.
I'll be singing with The Blind Boys of Alabama, which is a great joy to me. I've done some work with them before, and they truly are amazing.
I remember going up and doing 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' with Paul Simon, Santana playing up there with us.
Being at the Apollo, I was always starstruck.
Working with the brothers can put pressure on my voice, so I choose to do my own solo thing so I can save my voice. I couldn't do both now. The Neville Brothers is a funk band; they play loud, and I have a strong voice.
My brothers and I would sit out on the park bench and harmonize.
You try to do what you can to bring harmony wherever you go.
I don't want to be on the road all my life.
My mother turned me onto St. Jude back in the days when I was wild and crazy. She took me to the shrine on Rampart Street.
My drummer, bass player, and guitar player sing backgrounds. They play and sing. I can sing all the harmonies, but I can't do it alone.
I know the fact that I was born means I have to die, so my only aim is to reach out and help someone along the way.
I grew up singing Ray Charles and Jimmy Reed.
I know that God is good, and he saved me from hell and damnation.
Ain't no place like New Orleans. It's one of kind.
I started listening to gospel when I was a little boy and my grandmother used to rock me on her lap.
If we were poor, we didn't know it 'cause I guess you don't miss what you never had. So, you know, we made do with whatever. We used to make our own toys, and we used to play with spinning tops and marbles. A pocket full of marbles, and you were rich - you didn't worry about no money.
It's one of the greatest festivals in the world. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest is the best all-around... It's an honor to be closing it.
I'm here now because of my faith. That's what got me singing and what has kept me singing. That is what I have: what has kept me doing right and has provided me with the chances and the attitude and the skills to do this.
