20 Quotes by K. J. Yesudas

Music is the medium. Words merely enhance the composition.

When I recieved the Padmabhushan it was a happy moment no doubt, but it was not something I sought desperately to win. I never worked towards the award.

Before the '80s, no girl would ask to click a photograph. That was modest and demure.

I just continue to do my work with dedication. Really, it's my listeners who have given me 40 years of bhushana. However, my ultimate probably would be to sing in front of god. That will be something.

My parents - Augustine Joseph and Elizabeth - discovered my talent for singing when I was a kid. I remember them telling me that I sang a classical piece after listening to it a couple of times when I was two-and-a-half years old.

One piece of advice I often give young singers, including my son Vijay, is to not get sidetracked from their primary duty of learning music. This is the age of marketing and hard sell. Everybody wants instant results. But no amount of hard sell will prop you up if you don't hone your craft.

When I was young, I would gorge on chicken. But for the last several years, I've been a pure vegetarian; I don't even take egg.

It's not that I always had this impeccable voice. Some 15-18 years ago, I started noticing that I could not reach higher octaves.

God is love, love is bhakti and bhakti our connection to God.