The 43-year-old North Carolina-born songwriter and performer Chris Daughtry rose to fame as a solo artist on the fifth season of American Idol in 2006. With a clear, but large voice, Daughtry earned millions of fans.
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And while he didn’t win that particular season, he did win a burgeoning career that has led to millions of albums sold and several Grammy Award nominations. But with so much success to his name, one might wonder what Daughtry has to say about his life, his craft, fame, and more.
[REALTED: Daughtry: Out On His Own (and Loving It)]
These are the 20 best Chris Daughtry quotes.
1. “When I got into music, I wanted to learn guitar just enough to be able to write songs. I wanted to be able to express myself.”
2. “I was always in bands before, but on ‘American Idol,’ it was about getting my voice out there. It was always my goal, though, to get a band together again.”
3. “For me, something will come in my head and I’ll either end up calling my cell phone to record it, or I’ll just pick my guitar up and see what comes out. Sometimes it sucks, sometimes it doesn’t. So there’s really no set method behind it.”
4. “Believe half of what you see and only some of what you hear, unless you hear it from me.”
5. “You have to think there’s a reason for everything. When a door closes another door opens.”
6. “I wanted to be a martial arts film star when I was a teenager.”
7. “Some goals you just never really think about trying to achieve because they just seem so out of reach.”
8. “I think if I try to develop a formula, it ends up not working.”
9. “For me, I want my kids to find their way. If they’re interested in something, I want them to try it out.”
10. “It doesn’t matter how good you are as a band or how good your music may be; if the fans aren’t supporting it and buying your music, it’s hard to make it.”
11. “What I do doesn’t sit well in the world of Hipsterville. I don’t have a cool card, but I also don’t have thin skin.”
12. “If people say something rude or off-color, you have to take it with a grain of salt because they don’t know you.”
13. “I’m not ashamed of selling millions of records. I’m very fortunate to be in that position.”
14. “I get to hang out with Billy Bob Thornton at his house. We hang out over there every time we’re in L.A. because he doesn’t go out. We’ll hang and he’ll play us some of his tunes. It’s pretty awesome.”
15. “As a kid, I was heavily into martial arts and wanted to be the next Jean-Claude Van Damme.”
16. “The hits always wind up being the songs with big, high choruses. They’re the ones too high to sing every night—not that you’ll ever, ever hear me complain about having to try.”
17. “I think I definitely enjoy recording, but I think it’s more fun to go out and perform live, because it’s like instant gratification, you know? You feel the response immediately.”
18. “For me, you have to not have a formula. You have to not even sit down and say, ‘I want to write right now.’ It has to just kind of come out. It’s not something you can plan.”
19. “I don’t want to say I can’t wait to get back to normal life, because I don’t. I don’t want to get back to normal life.”
20. “I’m living my dream now.”
Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
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