I grew up a huge Roy Orbison fan. He had such a crazy range. And I grew up listening to old jazz, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone. I remember trying to imitate female jazz singers because I had a higher range.
There's a Nina Simone record that I love, 'Live at Vine Street,' and she sings flat on it. I can imagine she might've told the record label, 'Oh, God, you're not releasing that!' But I'm glad they did.
I'd just recorded it in Mariah Carey's studio. THey thought the song was perfect for Nina, because she's so shy, so it was nice to have that connection with Nina in the song. It was special.
I think Taj and Nina were better friends, because they get along, they have a lot of fun and they laugh. But it seems that Nina and Jack really hit it off. Nina really fell in love with Jack. there's a lot of chemistry between them!
When I first heard Nina Simone, her naked truth shocked me. Whenever she sang, it felt like lightning bolts in my soul. Every song was like a movie, a unique and very different vignette.
I did a project called 'Sing The Truth,' which was a lot of fun. It started out being a celebration of the music of Nina Simone, and it was me and Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo.
Nina Simone is a musical genius and a rich and precious treasure who paid a heavy price for her artistic freedom.
I really loved making 'Love, Nina.' I was in every scene, which was amazing. Bloody hell, what a job!
When I got with Nina Greenberg, I had been running for a few months already without a trainer. But then she gave me a program and guided me through my runs, showing me how to take care of myself and letting me know I should ice my legs and stretch - stuff I hadn't been doing.
I have a trainer, a really nice woman named Nina Greenberg, and she got me a training plan, and we go running in the canyons in Malibu. It's just beautiful up there, absolutely gorgeous. You see bobcats up there sometimes.
