Top 40 Brandi Carlile Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “You can dance in a hurricane, but only if you’re standing in the eye.”

— Brandi Carlile

2. “All of these lines across my face, tell you the story of who I am. So many stories of where I’ve been and how I got to where I am.”

— Brandi Carlile

3. “Wherever is your heart I call home.”

— Brandi Carlile

4. “People sing each other’s songs and they cultivate standards. That’s the reason why we have folk music and folk stories. History is told through song.”

— Brandi Carlile

Featured in: Quotes About Stories

5. “Coffee, whiskey, and fishing poles. That’s really all you need in life.”

— Brandi Carlile

6. “Sometimes seeming happy can be self-destructive even when you’re sane.”

— Brandi Carlile

7. “I love fishing, any kind of fishing.”

— Brandi Carlile

8. “I believe that writing for me is in a way like wisdom; in that as soon as you feel like you’ve got it figured out you stop growing and maybe even lose something.”

— Brandi Carlile

9. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be famous by anyone’s definition. I can only hope to be allowed by the audience to continue my life’s work.”

— Brandi Carlile

10. “I’ve read and heard that some of the most inspiring vocal interpreters adhere habitually to one rule: Always think the lyrics as you’re singing them, so that the sentiment is always appropriate and heartfelt.”

— Brandi Carlile

11. “My advice to new artists is to embrace a broader concept of timelessness than vintage or retro.”

— Brandi Carlile

12. “Writing is sort of putting a puzzle together halfway. Then, performing it has always been the completion of it. Once that happens, I’m feeling verbally communal with other people. It’s out there and I feel so much better about it.”

— Brandi Carlile

13. “There’s a lot of really inspiring music coming around the bend – we tend to believe that to sound classic or timeless is to sound vintage or retro. It’s a little bit dangerous, because you’ll really miss a chance to make your mark as a generation.”

— Brandi Carlile

14. “It’s impossible to just come up with one thing that I could say to the world. That’s why I’ve spent my life in the pursuit of the opportunity to sing to it. Summing it up goes against what fuels me.”

— Brandi Carlile

15. “I was born when I met you, now I’m dying to forget you.”

— Brandi Carlile

16. “Cousins are forever and forever are cousins they stand by your side for you no matter what.”

— Brandi Carlile

17. “But I’m warning you, we’re growing up.”

— Brandi Carlile

18. “I tend to support and get behind issues instead of candidates, because of the whole ‘Super Bowl’ generalization of our world – You’re on this side, I’m on that side; you’re a Republican, I’m a Democrat; you’re country music, I’m rock music.”

— Brandi Carlile

19. “People that could yodel always fascinated me. People that could sing loud always fascinated me. So I started trying to mimic at a really young age: 6, 7 years old.”

— Brandi Carlile

20. “There are still civil rights issues. There are still people who can’t be visited by their spouse in the hospital because they’re gay. These are humanitarian issues. At the end of the day, all you want is for people to be happy in the pursuit of life, love and liberty.”

— Brandi Carlile

21. “My mother’s a singer and my mother’s father is a singer, and everyone on both sides are all country-western bluegrass musicians.”

— Brandi Carlile

22. “If I learned to play guitar it was so that I would have something to sing to, if I learned to write a song it was so that I would have something to sing. So the gut feeling you’re talking about comes from singing and communicating the lyrics and what it is that we feel.”

— Brandi Carlile

23. “My songwriting is so influenced by orchestrated music, dramatic, super glam rock-y stuff. Two of my biggest influences in songwriting were Elton John and Freddie Mercury.”

— Brandi Carlile

24. “Even before I had a daughter, I was passionate about global women’s issues, but now that she’s here, I’m even more inspired to leave a better world for Evangeline.”

— Brandi Carlile

25. “The first thing I think of when I think about coming to Las Vegas and playing is always Elvis; its always the first thing on my mind.”

— Brandi Carlile

26. “I used to turn to nature and animals a lot. And fishing. I spend time still with my Bible and the gospel music, and I still have to feed the animals! But my wife and daughter have brought me a world of perspective when I’m feeling just a little “extra important.””

— Brandi Carlile

27. “You can’t change people, but most importantly, unless you’re their momma, you don’t even know what’s best for them.”

— Brandi Carlile

28. “Every city has a town outside with a lake. I pull out my fishing pole and fish. I’ve been doing that for a long time.”

— Brandi Carlile

29. “I’m not so arrogant to consider mine the only legitimate art form. I can’t in one breath make a fuss about someone compartmentalizing music into genre and then in the next accuse advertising and short film of not being art.”

— Brandi Carlile

30. “Privilege and complacency paralyze me with fear sometimes.”

— Brandi Carlile

31. “I feel like a lot of the singer-songwriters in my genre and in my generation have gotten more and more snooty about covering other people’s songs. They believe that creativity is the intersect of expression.”

— Brandi Carlile

32. “I didn’t get bullied any more than anybody else. I think I got bullied more for being poor than being gay. But no more than any other kid. And I’m sure that I did my fair share of picking on other kids, too. We’re all humans.”

— Brandi Carlile

33. “I have vocal trouble from time to time associated with sleep or wine! Or from sleeping in a bunk the size of a coffin and breathing in bus air conditioning all day.”

— Brandi Carlile

34. “I’d love to claim the title of ‘songwriter’ or ‘intellectual,’ but the truth is that anything that I ever learned how to do in conjunction with music was purely so that I would have a platform to sing from.”

— Brandi Carlile

35. “I tend to feel really protective of songs, and if they aren’t sitting well in a record, I’ll pull them tight to my chest until I feel it’s a better time.”

— Brandi Carlile

36. “When I was younger, I was always running into other girls involved in music. When I was about 14 or 15, one of my friend’s dads was an Elvis impersonator and asked us to sing backups at a rehearsal. I did well and was hired. Did that for about two years.”

— Brandi Carlile

37. “In life, I’m most inspired by entertaining people and driven by the desire to do it by such a powerful force that I think it influences everything I do.”

— Brandi Carlile

38. “But now, with the last two years of touring and being on the road, I’ve learned that a live show should never sound like a record; a record should sound like a live show.”

— Brandi Carlile

39. “I feel like the kindest thing that I do to my voice is sing.”

— Brandi Carlile

40. “Write your life. No matter how young or old, even if you feel like you’re not interesting enough, do it. Believe me, you are. Your life is in fact twisted, and beautiful. And you’ll find that as you peel back the layers, the unexpected side effect is that it feels wonderful to beknown, even if it’s just by you.”

— Brandi Carlile

41. “When Dolly Parton prayed over me, I believed in God again. Every part of my soul came crashing to the earth like it was riding on lightning. I became connected to it again. I remembered that I was just a tiny part of that day and that little moment in time. Most important, that I was in fact responsible for none of it. Good, bad, or indifferent. The prayer is just between me and Dolly. But it was life-affirming and I like to think Dolly prays for all of us like that.”

— Brandi Carlile

42. “If you find me in my work, I haven’t done my job. If you find yourself, then I’m an artist.”

— Brandi Carlile

43. “You don’t have to be famous to be a hero, anyone can do that. I’ll never be my heroes, but I’ll always have ’em.”

— Brandi Carlile

44. “A persons self-worth is dictated by what inalienable rights are allowed to them.”

— Brandi Carlile

45. “With these words I have healed deep wounds and feelings of inadequacy within myself. If you get this far... if you’re still reading this: Write your life. No matter how young or old. Even if you feel like you’re not interesting enough. Do it. Believe me you are. Your life is in fact twisted and beautiful and you’ll find that as you peel back the layers, the unexpected side effect is that it feels wonderful to be know. Even if it’s just by you.”

— Brandi Carlile

46. “People in this country who are in positions of privilege must learn to find ways of fighting for the just treatment of others not by centering and platforming themselves but by holding up the ones who are suffering. It’s not about shame or repentance, it’s about understanding that Dr. King still gets the bullhorn while many of us must organize, galvanize voters, peacefully protest, teach our children, plead with our parents, pray, resist, and amplify.”

— Brandi Carlile

47. “People in this country who are in positions of privilege must learn to find ways of fighting for the just treatment of others, not by centering and platforming themselves, but by holding up the ones who are suffering.”

— Brandi Carlile

48. “There’s no telling when the ride’s gonna stop and you’ll have to go get back in line. It’s the way it’s supposed to be. Ebbs and flows; sometimes you’re first and sometimes you’re last. You meet the exact same people on the way up that you do on the way down, so be prepared for anyone to be your future boss. All these things are true.”

— Brandi Carlile

49. “I understand who I am as an artist because I understand that I don’t understand who I am as an artist.”

— Brandi Carlile