Charles Bradley

“If you're gonna sing, sing from your heart, and the world will hear you.”

“If you want to give a show, make it real, and people will listen to you more carefully.”

“I want to sit in my own sorrow, cry it out, talk to God, and say, 'Give me strength, wisdom.'”

“My grandmother always told me that regardless of what the world gives you, stay humble. Stay strong in your beliefs, and be honest. And when you're wrong, be a man and say you're wrong. And be strong when you're right.”

“I can't make nobody believe in God. I can't tell you. But you got to experience it for yourself. When you find the true meaning of a spiritual gift, of what God give you? Nothing on this planet can give you that much joy.”

“When I was a child, it was segregated, and I couldn't go across a fence to certain parts of Gainesville.”

“It's not that I imitate him. I use a lot of what I feel. Even now, they refuse for me to stop doing James Brown. If it's something I can feel from the heart and from the soul, I do it.”

“I lived in the streets for three years when I was a kid, and every day, I didn't know where my next meal would come from.”

“When people are screaming when I'm on stage, I can't even find the words to thank them and tell them how much I love them, but I'll never forget all these faces.”

“With all the hurts they've been through, they find a loving way and a way to put their mind on something greater. That's what makes a good artist, a good singer: because you can hear the hurt in their voice, and you can hear the love in their voice.”

“Just know that all the pain that I've been through, it made me strong.”

“I can't be angry at God. Look at all the love that he gave us. Look at the beautiful planet that he gave us.”

“I've never been married. I'm married to my music.”

“I'm trying to find a home that I can come home to, and there's no stress or pressure to be scared to be in your own house.”

“I think God gave me an inner dictionary. If you play the right music that my heart loves, lyrics just come right to me.”

“With James Brown, I just learn the lyrics and then get out there and get funky with it and let my spirit free. But doing Charles Bradley, it's a lot of true, intimate words coming out of me that show me the picture inside myself.”

“What I hope is if you turn on the news tonight, I want to find a way to stop all this corruption I see.”

“Peforming as James Brown, I didn't really have to go deep in my soul the way I do as Charles Bradley.”

“When I went to Gabriel Roth's studio, I showed him I was good with my hands and started working as a handyman in his studio. I asked him for a chance, and he gave me a song to sing with Sharon Jones.”

“A real good artist learns to be a better person through all the changes they've been through. They keep their loving and honesty growing and learn to look at the world and not be full of hatred.”