I don't like crying. I'm a country boy, and we're the product of our upbringing. As a boy, I was told that men don't cry.

I have always felt an excellent rapport ever since my very first concert in Britain at Hampton Court. I have always felt understood. The British understand opera very well.

I'm quite shy, so I hate seeing my private life splashed over the papers.

Every audience has its character; I like America - they love me. I suffer from stage fright, but in America not so much.

I always knew I would sing. I just didn't know if I would be successful or not. But I sang at school, I sang at parties, I sang at church. Everyone always asked me to sing. I'd be playing football with my friends and my parents would ask me to sing for their guests. I was never very happy about that because I wanted to play football.

When I hear that young people have come to the theater for the first time to listen to opera, I'm very happy. Because it's the same thing that happened to me as a child. When I first heard the tenor voice, I immediately fell in love with this kind of music.

I speak to God every day.