I know God loves me. I tell people all the time I'm one of his favorite childs. I had to believe in something bigger than me - bigger than man. I had to believe that God would send somebody across my path to keep my dreams alive.
— Darlene Love
A lot of the people who saw me in the 'Lethal Weapon' movies didn't even know I was a singer.
I wish I started out as a solo artist.
If you listen to most songs, most people will not sing the words of the lead singer. They will sing the hook. The hook is what makes the record sell.
There's nothing better than lifting somebody's spirit with music.
Your body knows how old you are, but if you keep on and you take care of yourself - you know, I go to kickboxing class every morning at 5 A.M. You know, try to do all the things to take care of the outside of your body, but you also should do - and have to do things that take care of the inside of your body.
I've always wanted to work with Barbra Streisand because she's worked with some of the best background singers in the world who are friends of mine, worked with them in concert or on movie soundtracks, and I always say 'Now, where was I? Where was I when she was hiring people to work with her?'
I think, for a long time, people thought I was a figment of Phil Spector's imagination because they knew The Crystals, they knew The Ronettes, they knew Bob B. Sox and the Blue Jeans, but had never had met Darlene Love.
It means a lot to me, the sanctity of marriage.
A lot of times, that's hard to capture: what you sound like in person versus what you sound like on record. If I had total control, I would do a lot of the old songs - not only my songs but Sam Cooke songs, Luther Vandross, melody songs. That's what I would really do if I had an opportunity to do a record.
The Blossoms were actually the first black background singers that did recording sessions in California, but we had to start giving work away. We just couldn't do it all.
Background singers who are any good have to be great imitators.
When I was a backup singer, I enjoyed it.
My father was a Pentecostal minister; that's how I was brought up. So I never thought of having a secular career.
With movies, they have a certain person or style that they're looking for. It's not that they don't like you, but maybe you're not the person that's right for their movie. That happens a lot.
I think we did our first session in 1958. There were no black background singers - there were only white singers. They weren't even called background singers; they were just called singers. I don't know who gave us the name 'background singers,' but I think that came about when The Blossoms started doing background.
I get such joy out of performing for people, and you can tell whether they like you or they don't like you the minute you walk out on the stage. And they don't even have to tell me that they had a good time. I know they had a good time.
I always say that when I was recording with Phil Spector, he would not let me really sing, you know? And even to make me sound younger, he would speed the track up. He still wanted that real nice, little, quiet, sweet little sound.
When I met Letterman, he told me he thought 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)' was the greatest Christmas song he ever heard, and he wanted me to be on his show to sing it.
When you hate people, it not only makes you hate that person, it gives that vibe off for everything around you. I really do believe that.
I love being married. I've been married three times.
When people come and see me, I want them to experience joy. I don't do any sad songs in my show. It's to lift the spirit.
The Blossoms had gotten so we were working seven days a week, three or four sessions a day, which was literally killing us, physically. With the instruments that the musicians play, they can do that, but not with us using our voices.
The whole idea is you can't sit around and do nothing. You have to get up and start living one day at a time. That's what I did my entire career. You can't sit around and say, 'Oh, poor me. Nobody likes me. Nobody is giving me a job.' You have to get up and go. If you sit at home and do nothing, that is what is going to happen.
You just have to find a lawyer that won't let you sign certain things - and I mean the fine print, because I was gone from Phil Spector and signed with Gamble and Huff in Philadelphia, and Phil bought my record contract back from them.
My pursuit was more in the music thing, so I never went out pursuing movies. It was more just pursuing my singing career because people came to me for singing more than they did for doing movies.
Nobody put the camera on the background singers who were singing. It was on Stevie Wonder. It was on Elton John. It was on whoever was the lead singer out front. We were 20 feet from stardom.
In church, they have the music where you jump and you shout, you know, and then you have the quiet music where you're sitting, you're meditating.
I enjoyed every minute of what I was doing with sessions, because The Blossoms, the group that I was singing with, they were the first black background singers. There weren't any.
I worked with Dionne Warwick, did shows with Bette Midler, and then I did the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Springsteen at the Garden. It was all important stuff because you want people to know you can work, you can sing, and you can still look good!
I am so thankful for the genius of Phil Spector, for his recognition of my talent to be the main voice of his Wall of Sound.
I'm always happy to be a part of history. When you're a part of history, you live forever. 'The T.A.M.I. Show' will live forever because now it's brand new. We did that 40-odd years ago, and people are really starting to see it now. I was a part of history when I recorded that show.
'If I Can Dream' is my all-time favorite Elvis song. It was a big record, but not as big as it could have been. It was one of those records where you'd think it sold 10 billion copies, but it didn't.
I never pushed to be a star. I didn't want to. I had my home, my family. Session work let you do the music and leave.
