"I like to sing very much"
About this Quote
A simple declaration can reveal a life’s engine. Saying "I like to sing very much", Della Reese lets affection, not ambition, sit at the center of her art. The sentence is spare, almost childlike, and that is the point: the joy that launched her career never got layered over with the cynicism that often trails fame. Reese came up through Detroit’s church choirs, learned how a voice can carry feeling across a room, and translated that early devotion into a wide-ranging career that touched jazz, pop, and gospel. The warmth listeners heard in "Dont You Know?" and other hits was not simply technique; it was the sound of someone doing what she genuinely loved.
The statement also reflects a discipline rooted in joy. For Reese, singing was a practice as much as a performance, a daily act that formed her character. That persistence helped her move across mediums, from nightclub stages to recording studios, talk shows, and later a beloved acting turn on Touched by an Angel. Through all of it, the music kept returning, whether folded into a television role or released in later gospel albums, because the impulse to sing had never been a means to an end. It was the end.
There is humility in the wording that mirrors the era and barriers she navigated. A Black woman building a career in mid-20th-century entertainment often had to let the work speak louder than self-promotion. Reese’s understatement reads as both modest and quietly defiant: enjoyment itself is enough justification. That clarity sustains art through changes in taste, industry demands, and personal trials, including serious health challenges she publicly faced and overcame.
The line, then, holds an ethic. Love the craft and keep doing it. Reese’s longevity makes sense when heard through that lens. The voice endures because the desire to use it is honest, unforced, and anchored in delight.
The statement also reflects a discipline rooted in joy. For Reese, singing was a practice as much as a performance, a daily act that formed her character. That persistence helped her move across mediums, from nightclub stages to recording studios, talk shows, and later a beloved acting turn on Touched by an Angel. Through all of it, the music kept returning, whether folded into a television role or released in later gospel albums, because the impulse to sing had never been a means to an end. It was the end.
There is humility in the wording that mirrors the era and barriers she navigated. A Black woman building a career in mid-20th-century entertainment often had to let the work speak louder than self-promotion. Reese’s understatement reads as both modest and quietly defiant: enjoyment itself is enough justification. That clarity sustains art through changes in taste, industry demands, and personal trials, including serious health challenges she publicly faced and overcame.
The line, then, holds an ethic. Love the craft and keep doing it. Reese’s longevity makes sense when heard through that lens. The voice endures because the desire to use it is honest, unforced, and anchored in delight.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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