When it comes to the question of, “Who inspires you the most? Who is the number one person that influences your music?” I can never choose just one. Never. That is how I am with a lot of different things. I can never have a number one favorite thing. I can never have a number one favorite color, drink, show. I have favorites but nothing will ever be a number one to me.
So note for this post, when I give you an in order presentation of my favorite musicians, know that these musicians positions change constantly. It all depends on my mood for weeks, what is going on in my life, what sound I am searching for in that moment of my life. Some of these people have stayed influential to me for years, some for weeks and others come and go.
1). Michael Jackson (AKA The King of Pop)
I don’t even know where I should begin with this man. I have loved everything about him since I was 9 years old. I remember trying to dance like him in the middle of the night, buying a fedora and trying to dress like him at the age of 10. It isn’t just his music that has changed me, it is who he was as a person that changed me the most.
No. I didn’t know Michael Jackson personally.
Sadly… (Although I used to have a lot of dreams as a kid that he was my uncle and at the end of the dream, he’d give me his email. I was ECSTATIC but would wake up quite disappointed to the reality of it all.)
If you did not know, Michael Jackson did so so so so so so SO much for this world! He has donated millions of dollars to families in need, hospitals, sick children, just constantly cared and loved people. I admire that greatly and carry that on in my character by making sure I am constantly there for people. I have become open-minded with this characteristic of being caring and loving. I do not force care and love onto people, I allow it to happen naturally.
Michael Jackson taught me to be aware of my surroundings. He taught me that Love is the answer to everything. Love can defeat anything and love brings people together in unity. It is something that has been proven, it is something that I feel and constantly try to do for myself and others is to just constantly love.
I am now overflowing with love and have lots to give. With that gift, I can never be bitter towards hateful people.
The first time I ever performed was when I was in the 4th grade.
I was sick from school and emailed my teacher a constant dream (and goal) I had which was to sing, solo, in front of the entire school. In my elementary school, that I was in, it only had 4th and 5th grade.
I was a very shy girl in elementary school. I never even said a word to people that wanted to be my friend (I’m surprised that I somehow had friends…) My 4th grade teacher forwarded that email, that dream, of mine to the school dean who was this very tall, very masculine, bald guy who is one of the nicest, funniest people I knew.
It was the month of February and I was told I was going to be performing in front of my grade at the time, the 4th grade, during lunch in the lunch room. At my school, growing up, there was about 200+ students in ever grade!
At the time, I was such a Michael Jackson encyclopedia. In fact, I was an encyclopedia for Michael Jackson for years afterwords. I knew way too much about him even the irrelevant things like Elizabeth Taylor decorating his house (Neverland) for Christmas and buying him a bunch of Super Soakers and Michael Jackson gifting her an elephant at one point! (Irrelevant to you, but their friendship was very sincere and sweet to me. I admire them both greatly.)
I immediately knew what song I was going to do and why. I chose to sing Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’ in front of my entire grade using my little amplifier and my green iCarly microphone that plugged in.
I brought my own equipment at 9 years old!
I chose that song because of the message of the song. Like I said earlier, Michael Jackson didn’t just influence me musically but also personality wise. If you have not seen the music video or even heard the song, stop reading this blog and look it up right now.
The message of ‘Earth Song’ is forever so important and so strong to me. The song talks about problems in this world, promises people make to each other, break to each other. The song talks about lost and love and the “what about’s” of the promises people make for the world. The struggles of the world being poverty, starvation and the selfishness we all possess inside ourselves and we have the choice everyday for what we will do with that selfishness.
Will you be selfish or selfless?
The ending of the song is so powerful to me because Michael sings about these problems such as, “what about children dying?” While the choir behind him sings just as powerfully, “What about us?”. It is this back and forth conversation of one man versus multiple people of the act of selfish vs selfless.
Of course, take care of yourself and your needs, but please do not forget to look around and try to help your neighbors.
I was, and still am, so passionate about the Earth that I even wrote a speech that I planned on reading in front of my whole grade. I do have the speech still somewhere in the piles of notebooks I have throughout the years, but I never did get to give my speech.
I had so much adrenaline after performing and everybody at lunch circled around me, I completely forgot about my speech.
I’m pretty sure people knew I was passionate about the world because I was that nine year old girl that would write, “The Earth is sick. She needs our help,” on the white board in my classroom. The first song I ever wrote was about how earth is special. I remember the first lines of the song I wrote when I was 9.
Earth is special because it has trees and plants
Earth is special because it has flowers
Earth is special
Earth is special
And then it went into some rap, but I can’t rap so that’s the end of that.
If that doesn’t explain enough of Michael Jackson’s influence on me then maybe I should just write a whole book about it. Either way, a big thanks to the King of Pop:
Michael Joseph Jackson.
2). Freddie Mercury (Queen)
Before the movie Bohemian Rhapsody came out in theaters, I was a HUGE Freddie Mercury fan back when I was about 13 years old. Not gonna lie, Queen as a band itself helped me through so many things such as my own anxiety. Seeing how confident Freddie was just being himself, it helped me create a space in my own head outside of my own anxiety. Queen is such a trip just to listen to especially their older albums such as A Night at the Opera which is a legendary album to me.
I grew up listening to a range of genres from classical to Elvis to Christina Aguilera.
Queen amazed me by being an old band with such a fresh sound to them. They did almost every genre in their songs and combined so many of them into individual songs!
Freddie Mercury inspires me for so, so, SO many reasons. He was confidently himself even with his own sexuality during a time where it wasn’t so accepted. Him dying of AIDS brought such a conversation to the table that had never been spoken about before. Freddie is truly the person that helped me realize my sexuality and my identity of being queer. Growing up I never knew if I wanted to be Freddie Mercury or marry him.
He was so unapologetically himself to this public eye regardless if he was a shy person in reality. I found a lot of myself in him such as being this shy, quiet person to people versus the attitude, loud person I can be when I perform. Freddie truly shaped the person I am today and he shaped me during such a fragile time in my life (middle school).
I remember imagining myself dressing up, singing Fat Bottomed Girls for my whole school and not giving a damn. Being flirty, being free, being 100% me in black, leather overalls.
When I doubt myself now, I think back on Freddie’s life and know that I can accomplish anything. If he could face his own fears, face the public regardless of their opinions of homosexuality and illness, then I knew I too could face the world being unapologetically myself.
I could never express to the extent how much Queen means to me.
Freddie Mercury was, and will forever be, one of a kind.
3. Janet Jackson
Idolizing Michael Jackson of course led me to studying the Jackson family as a whole.
Janet Jackson came into my life when I was about 15 years old. I admire her and love her for various reasons. I love how open she was, in her music, about sexuality. She’s very sexual in a lot of her music especially her older music, I admired that as a young teen curious about relationships and humans.
Growing up, sex wasn’t really normalized in my house but it also wasn’t something shameful in my house either. It was just a topic that was never discussed about between my parents or between my parents and I. I think a lot of people can agree that growing up sex just wasn’t normalized at all. It was seen as something awful and unnatural when it is anything but.
Janet helped me break that idea of it being unnatural. She was raised from a religious family and she is still religious to this day. She is a kind woman that also donates her money to those that need it and loves everyone in her life and she still talks about sex. Janet sung about sex because it is a natural thing.
Her soft, sultry voice adds to the message and the image she had.
One of my favorite albums of hers is The Velvet Rope. That album is Janet’s personal album in my opinion. She got over a divorce, came back with red, curly hair, tattoos, septum piercing, a nip piercing and came back telling her story. Janet showed vulnerability in that album, still sang about sex, sang about abuse. It is such a woman album to me. When I say woman album, I mean a lot of women can relate to the issues she talked about in that album. It showed a different side of Janet that I will forever respect. I even relate to that album and it had helped me through my first abusive relationship when I was 18.
In that album she also talks about depression and the need we all have for being special. This message also helped the high school Teri with my own seasonal depression.
I saw Janet when I was 15 years old in Omaha on her Unbreakable Tour. That was SUCH a dream! She sang live, she still dances amazing for her age, she is forever BRILLIANT! She continues to inspire me for just how in-tune she is with herself.
You have to admit, without Janet, there wouldn’t be a lot of female artists we have today. Beyoncé probably would’ve still been the big star she is but without Janet, I don’t think she would have been the same.
Janet Jackson is such a Queen and she is such a dream.
4. Janis Joplin
I grew up listening to a variety of music from both sides of my family. My father is English and got me into all forms of rock music from classical to metal rock. My mother is a Polynesian, Puerto Rican woman that brought in the island music along with some real nice R&B growing up.
I got into Janis Joplin when I was about 14 years old. I used to sing karaoke at a neighbors house every Friday night and they told me I should sing some Janis Joplin. I looked into her music from that night and have been in love with her music since.
She brings on such a carefree, soulful sound that I have never heard in my life. She is the true definition of singing from your heart. You hear her pain and you feel her pain. One of my favorites of her is her live version of Ball n Chain. I feel that song right through my heart from her voice pleading on why her man left her to the guitar solos which are just as heartfelt.
Janis was a true hippie as she’s from the 60’s and sadly left in the 60’s as well (1970 actually). She sang songs and showed for that true meaning of peace and love, had the whole look about it too. She didn’t really wear makeup, kept her hair wild; everything about her to me is perfect.
Janis influenced me, like Freddie, to be carefree. Through Janis’s music, you can sometimes hear vocal mistakes like her voice cracking and notes aren’t perfect yet they sound and feel so perfect. She showed me that it’s okay not to have the “perfect” smooth voice and it’s okay to let your emotions show through it all. That’s the most important part about music to me is the emotion. I am an emotional person myself. I love and care for people so, so deeply. When I sing live, I do not hold back on anything I have got to say and it is because of people like Freddie Mercury and Janis Joplin that I have learned to do so.
If you have yet to listen to some Janis Joplin, please stop reading and do this now. You will not regret it.
