Emmylou Harris, Born: April 2, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA

When she first met Gram Parsons in 1971: "When I got his call I didn't know who he was. We met at th...Show more »

When she first met Gram Parsons in 1971: "When I got his call I didn't know who he was. We met at the train station. Gram was there with his new wife, Gretchen, this charming southern boy with wonderful manners and a wide smile. I was playing Clyde's (in Washington, D.C.) that night. We worked up a few numbers between sets and sang them to this tiny crowd. Gram said it sounded good and he'd call me. I thought, 'Oh, sure...'" Show less «

On her one-sided conversations with her pets: "If I'm crazy, I'm blissfully so!"

When Gram Parsons died: "I didn't have any chance to grieve in the traditional way. First, 'Phil Kau...Show more »

When Gram Parsons died: "I didn't have any chance to grieve in the traditional way. First, 'Phil Kaufman' (Parsons's roadie) intercepted the air ambulance transporting the body, drove the coffin out into the desert, doused it in kerosene and burnt it, in accordance, he said, with a verbal instruction from Parsons. Next, I was told I would not be welcome at the memorial service in New Orleans. Gram's wife was deeply suspicious of me. She'd already vetoed his plan to put my name and image next to his on the cover of Grievous Angel. Now she was barring me from the church. I was left running away from my grief. I just got in my little car and drove all over America for months, looking for people who knew Gram who could comfort me, looking for any piece of that time I could hold onto." Show less «

Looking back on Gram Parsons's death: "It's a great regret of mine. How could I not have seen it com...Show more »

Looking back on Gram Parsons's death: "It's a great regret of mine. How could I not have seen it coming? He was so young, and such a strong presence, I couldn't imagine he wasn't gonna be there always. The most dismaying thing to me is that I was too self-absorbed in what I was getting from Gram musically to notice what was happening to him. I was too focused on me, and discovering this incredible music." Show less «

On joining Gram Parsons in Los Angeles in 1972: "It was a totally new world. I was a person who neve...Show more »

On joining Gram Parsons in Los Angeles in 1972: "It was a totally new world. I was a person who never had fun in high school because I was too busy being a grade-A student, and here was with people who really knew how to enjoy themselves. I was very much the country mouse, trying to be professional, always turning up on time, ready to work, while Gram seemed very untogether. This was a man who really had a vision; the problem was, he was drinking heavily. I didn't think the record would ever get made." Show less «

On the male-dominated 1970s music industry's attitude toward women: "ladies were regarded as a liabi...Show more »

On the male-dominated 1970s music industry's attitude toward women: "ladies were regarded as a liability: the view was, they get pregnant and they freak out on the road, they're unreliable and they don't sell." Show less «

[Producer and ex-husband] Brian Ahern and I have done things together over the years. Neither of us ...Show more »

[Producer and ex-husband] Brian Ahern and I have done things together over the years. Neither of us are the sort of people who like to stay angry, and we've been very much committed to raising our daughter. Show less «

On growing up an Air Force brat: "We weren't part of a real community. There were people from all ov...Show more »

On growing up an Air Force brat: "We weren't part of a real community. There were people from all over, which meant there was no culture." Show less «

On touring with Gram Parsons: "Gram was always fine when we were singing together. That was one thin...Show more »

On touring with Gram Parsons: "Gram was always fine when we were singing together. That was one thing I could do for him. It was when I wasn't around that he seemed to get into trouble." Show less «

I loved Johnny Cash, but the folk revival happened when I was 15. There was an electricity about it,...Show more »

I loved Johnny Cash, but the folk revival happened when I was 15. There was an electricity about it, something romantic about those ballads, whereas country music sounded boring. You have to grow up, start paying the rent and have your heart broken before you understand country. As a teenager I became obsessed with Bob Dylan. And Joan Baez! I mean, what girl back then didn't want to be her? Show less «

On studying acting on a university drama scholarship: "When I was singing, it felt so real. Whereas ...Show more »

On studying acting on a university drama scholarship: "When I was singing, it felt so real. Whereas when I was acting, I was just acting." Show less «

[The next two years were] a very black period". [Her daughter, Hallie, was being looked after most o...Show more »

[The next two years were] a very black period". [Her daughter, Hallie, was being looked after most of the time by her parents.] "I didn't have any money. I had a sense of terrible loss. But what I also had was a fire in my belly. I wasn't going to go back to waiting table. I felt I had to be better at fronting a band. Show less «

I think one of the keys to any kind of peace in the world is to live in the moment. I guess that's w...Show more »

I think one of the keys to any kind of peace in the world is to live in the moment. I guess that's why I love dogs so much, because they are so in the moment. They just keep bringing you back to that. Show less «

Animals have a much better attitude to life and death than we do. They know when their time has come...Show more »

Animals have a much better attitude to life and death than we do. They know when their time has come. We are the ones that suffer when they pass, but it's a healing kind of grief that enables us to deal with other griefs that are not so easy to grab hold of. Show less «

"[I'm] an excellent ex-wife [with] a wonderful relationship with my two husbands. Paul [Kennerly] an...Show more »

"[I'm] an excellent ex-wife [with] a wonderful relationship with my two husbands. Paul [Kennerly] and Brian [Brian Ahern] are probably my two best friends". Show less «

On refusing to add to a Gram Parsons biography by Ben Fong Torres: "I have my own biography of Gram ...Show more »

On refusing to add to a Gram Parsons biography by Ben Fong Torres: "I have my own biography of Gram Parsons - I don't want to be part of somebody else's." Show less «

I just turned 64. You remember back when The Beatles sang that and you thought 'I'll never be 64'? I...Show more »

I just turned 64. You remember back when The Beatles sang that and you thought 'I'll never be 64'? It was like it was the end of the world. Now it's not young, it's not old, It just is. Show less «

[What she loves about singing country is] "its restraint, which intensifies the emotion in the music...Show more »

[What she loves about singing country is] "its restraint, which intensifies the emotion in the music". Show less «