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Creativity Quote by Della Reese

"I like to sing very much"

About this Quote

It lands like a shrug, but it’s really a thesis statement disguised as plain talk. “I like to sing very much” is almost aggressively simple: no grand claims about destiny, no tortured artist mythology, no self-branding. For Della Reese, that restraint is the point. She frames singing not as a gift bestowed by the universe, but as a practice rooted in pleasure - an appetite, a choice, a craft you return to because it feels right.

The subtext is confidence without theater. Reese came up in a music economy that demanded virtuosity and spectacle from Black women while also policing their “attitude.” Saying she “likes” to sing sidesteps the usual performance of suffering or divinity. It’s a quiet refusal to audition for anyone’s narrative. She doesn’t need to justify the work with a sob story; she doesn’t need to inflate it into a spiritual slogan. The understatement reads like an artist who has already proven the hard part.

Context matters: Reese moved fluently from gospel to jazz and pop, then into television and later ministry, carrying a voice that sounded lived-in. This line echoes that versatility. Singing isn’t a single identity; it’s something she does, repeatedly, because she wants to. In an era when musicians are pushed to explain themselves in “authenticity” soundbites, Reese’s sentence feels radical: the motive is joy, and joy is enough.

Quote Details

TopicMusic
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Reese, Della. (2026, January 17). I like to sing very much. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-like-to-sing-very-much-49672/

Chicago Style
Reese, Della. "I like to sing very much." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-like-to-sing-very-much-49672/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I like to sing very much." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-like-to-sing-very-much-49672/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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Della Reese quote on singing and joy
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About the Author

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Della Reese (July 6, 1931 - November 19, 2017) was a Musician from USA.

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