# Quote — Billie Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues

> ... used to win all of Billy [Berg's]'s lindy contests. Maybe he couldn't cut the cats at the Savoy in , but he sure could dance. He was like me when I was a kid, in a way, wanting to make it as a dancer and not interested in singing. And he was a switch on me in another way. My singing voice is clear but my speaking voice is husky; Mel's speaking voice was clear but his singing voice sounded kind of cloudy and foggy. I tried to tell him he had something different in the way of sound and encouraged him to try singing. He never seemed to want to listen. Maybe a lot of other people told him the same thing, but anyway, I was pleased later to hear he was making it. I always liked his singing, too. No matter what he was doing, he wasn't imitating anybody and he had that beat.

- Author: [Billie Holiday](https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday.md)
- Book: [Lady Sings the Blues](https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday/lady-sings-the-blues.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday#Lady_Sings_the_Blues_(1956)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday/lady-sings-the-blues/used-to-win

## More from this book

> You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body's sermon on how to behave. Everything I am and everything I want out of life goes smack back to that.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday/lady-sings-the-blues/youve-got-to-have.md)

> Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what's more than enough.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday/lady-sings-the-blues/somebody-once-said.md)

> I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday/lady-sings-the-blues/im-always-making.md)