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Brittany Howard on Prince, breakup songs and giving 'everything and leaving nothing' | Fresh Air
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August 16, 2024
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45:58Now PlayingFrom the time she was a kid, former Alabama Shakes frontperson Brittany Howard knew she wanted to be in a band. She remembers seeing some kids from the local high school performing, and it was like a door opened in her mind: "I said, 'That's what I want to do.' "
Today, Howard is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer. But at the time, she was a poor, biracial kid in a small Alabama town. When she began seeking out musicians to play with, she was told repeatedly that she didn't look like a lead singer.
"It made me sing harder and sing louder and perform just as hard as I could perform," she says of the rejections. "Because no matter what, there's one thing you can't deny ... that I am giving it everything and leaving nothing."
Howard's new solo album is "What Now." She talks with Terry Gross about the album, growing up in a haunted house and playing with Prince at his Paisley Park.
This interview originally aired August 1, 2024.
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