Quotes from Jose Feliciano

When I was 15, I became an avid fan of Andres Segovia. He brought so much respectability to the guitar.

When people don't hear you on the radio they think 'maybe he retired.'

I got so big in the Latin market, it was a bit like being Elvis Presley. The limousines, the screaming girls - stuff I wasn't used to.

When I did the anthem, I did it with the understanding in my heart and mind that I did it because I'm a patriot. I was trying to be a grateful patriot. I was expressing my feelings for America when I did the anthem my way instead of just singing it with an orchestra.

Music made me feel like I was sexy. Music made me feel like I wasn't just a blind guy.

I didn't have romances when I was in school. Girls didn't want to go out with me because I was blind.

I think I am different from most blind people because my agility is not that of a blind person - I don't shuffle my feet when I walk. In fact, I have no, as I call them, 'blindisms.'

My dream was to be a celebrity, to be on TV like Bob Hope was.

I thought I'd be spending my life making brooms, mops, chairs and things. That's fine for some blind people, but I wanted something more out of life. Music seemed the best way.

I always wanted to be the first true Latino to break the American barrier, to be on the American charts.

I like Maroon 5, Swedish House Mafia and others.

I mean, it wasnt like I had said to myself beforehand, 'OK, I'm gonna go out there and sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner' in the weirdest way possible and cause a commotion.' I just sang it the way I felt it I sang it the only way I could.

One day I heard Ray Charles on the radio and I found out he was blind. I thought, 'You know what, if there's room for Ray, there might be room for Jose.'

When you've had a chance to live some experiences then you can really write, and not having lived that much when I was young I didn't have much to write about. Now having seen life, the songs seem to come easier.

I became a teen idol. At the time, it embarrassed me.

I was a teen idol in Latin America.

I didnt go to the high school prom. Couldn't get a date.

In 1970, my label decided I should do a Christmas album and I put a bunch of tunes together. We couldn't decide what to call it and so I said 'Why not just say Merry Christmas in Spanish? Feliz Navidad.' They said, 'That's cool, Jose, but we need a title song.' So I just sat down and started to play.

I always tell my wife she's married to the Puerto Rican Elvis.

I'm very proud being Puerto Rican. I'm American. That is what America is made of - people from different lands.

I'm Puerto Rican, but I represent everybody.

Some people wanted me deported - as if you can be deported to Puerto Rico.

God gave me a good voice. I have perfect pitch. I don't sing flat.

I liked the Doors and that kind of music.