Quotes from Philip Bailey

I'm a natural baritone, so I had challenges in that middle range, which would be that tenor area, singing in my natural voice. And I worked on that. But basically the falsetto thing, I didn't even know it was a falsetto until a music teacher commented on it, that I had a very nice falsetto. I didn't even know what it was. I said, 'Oh, OK.'

Christian songs are more my personal testimony. I don't say things I don't believe in on secular records, but I am going for the hit record.

I think that there's certain music that instead of saying a lot of different things that are on my psyche, I just say, 'I've aged out.' Because that is the best way of putting it, because a lot of things I simply don't understand and will not understand and can't see any intrinsic value in.

The music departments in the public school system gave me a really extraordinary foundation and music appreciation that I still draw from, even today.

Being a musician was not my choice; it was really a God-ordained thing, so I'm still passionately chasing after the pursuit of that whole journey and musical expression and discovery.

We never considered ourselves a funk band.

At the height of Earth, Wind & Fire's success, I felt an emptiness and void. I studied lots of philosophies and cults and I prayed to God. God made it plain that Jesus Christ died for my sins.

I call Earth, Wind & Fire my day job and my solo career my night gig.

Interestingly enough, I'm an earth sign, and my personality is pretty much in keeping with that, and Verdine is definitely a fire sign. And even though Ralph is a water sign, he would definitely be the wind side of the equation.

We never overthought the message aspect of Earth, Wind & Fire. We pretty much were all raised the same... We just wanted to contribute positivity in our music and humanity.

It wasn't an instant success. It wasn't like I got into Earth, Wind & Fire and we stopped eating oatmeal and McDonald's. But it was definitely a clear path on the right direction to be my own man.

That's one thing I loved about coming up when we came up. When you had groups like Mandrill and Earth, Wind & Fire, Sly Stone, and on and on and on, the Brothers Johnson, whatever. Everybody, Ohio Players. Groups wanted to be just themselves.

More than anything, Earth, Wind and Fire forced me to become more aligned with the truth. After the experience of working in that band, it became clear how fleeting and deceptive fame can be. I realized that there is no better form or reference than the word of God, and it was my responsibility to be accountable for my faith.

Well, for Earth, Wind & Fire, we would often say that the band was more dynamic live than on record.

Well, the one thing is nowadays because of Pro Tools and the Internet, when you're starting on an idea, you can really continue on that path until the whole idea is developed and completed, as opposed to before when those were separate processes.

The first time I heard a professional jazz quartet practicing in a house down the street it was almost like an out-of-body experience.

Well, I can't sing like James Brown and stuff and go do a gig. I'm not a roughhouse singer.

God had always been beckoning me. Early on as a kid, I just felt a strange and close connection with the Divine and then later on it became a more personal thing through my Christian witnesses, people in my life who got a chance to talk to me, bring me to the knowledge of Jesus.

It's important to refresh the way of thinking and doing things musically. You can get so stuck in what you've done in the past that you can't move on into the future.

I do listen to more jazz and gospel than anything else, but my ears are still very much open and listening to stuff that comes out. And a lot of times my kids turn me on to stuff.

You're always discovering other things you're capable of doing if you're out their singing. I just try to stay open to learning more things as the voice expands and grows.

You just hope to do music that people will embrace... music that will be cutting edge and will be recognized.

Jazz has always been my first love. It has this timeless effect on me. It's pretty odd that I didn't become a jazz musician. I went another way because I needed to earn a good living to support my large family.

You have to refresh yourself with anything that you do all the time and re-tweak it, so the level of integrity associated with what people have learned to love is still the same. And so we don't get bored and fall asleep.