From working with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, to being mentored by Adam Levine on the hit TV show The Voice, Judith Hill has had nothing short of a strong and eventful career. As someone who has spent a lot of her life surrounded by music, she cites Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin as inspirations, among others. Hill has been noted as “breaking out from the background” and “getting a few feet closer to stardom” by The Globe and Centre Daily Times, respectively. Now working with Sony Records, Judith Hill is the new “it” girl on the rise. She is now opening for Josh Groban’s In The Round Arena Tour, and you can catch the show at Amway Arena on November 9. The Bite spoke with Hill about everything from the King of Pop himself to the ups and downs of the music industry.
While reading through your bio on your website, it says that you wrote a song when you were four years old. What was it about?
It was a gospel song called “God Has Made,” and it was just saying that he made the birds and the trees. It was a really cute song.
What was it like being the backup singer for the King of Pop, Michael Jackson?
It was incredible. It was like getting front row seats to seeing greatness and seeing him work out his show and create this magical experience. Being a part of that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He was so in control of everything and really had a vision and made everything come alive with the lighting and the band. Being a part of it wasn’t just sitting there and just singing backup. We had costumes, we were coming out of props. It was a big show. I got to sing duets with him. It was really awesome.
Did you ever get to talk to him and get to know him?
Very little, our schedule was so intense. He was very silly. He had lots of jokes and pranks. He was very soft-spoken, but very sweet, and he always had very kind words to say to me. He was very gracious. He was just really cool to work with.
If you could, who would you most like to duet with?
Let’s see. I would love to do a song with Justin Timberlake…I think he would be my pick.
Looking back on your music career, what moment would you want to go back to most? What would you change?
I would say that my college years were some of my best years. I wish I could have just spent four more years studying because it was so much fun and I learned so much. What would I change…probably some of the time that I took working on and writing songs with different people in L.A. It was definitely trial and error. I could have done things differently. It was all a learning experience. If I hadn’t gone through those things, I probably wouldn’t be here today because I wouldn’t have had to learn from those mistakes. Those were some of my toughest times. When you are working with different songwriters and producers in LA, sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t.
Every artist has that “oh my gosh” moment when they are on stage, what was yours?
Mine was definitely with Michael, the very first time we sang “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.” I had never sung with him, and I was kind of just thrown on stage. I had no idea what he was going to do. I was really star struck. It was just a really crazy experience.
What was it like being on The Voice in front of legends like Usher and Shakira?
My coach Adam [Levine] was great. It was a lot of fun. It was a great experience, and I had the most fun onstage singing my renditions of the songs. That was why I did it—it was just really fun. It was cool to be on stage and recording songs. I made a lot of friends and made some new fans. They had such a great team of people working—in the band, musical directors, and hair and make-up. Everything was just really fun.
Did you learn anything on The Voice that has carried on throughout your career?
Oh, absolutely. I learned so much on that show. I mean that show really does help you discover what kind of artist you are and what kind of stuff connects with the audience. Week after week, you’d discover, “that worked really well,” or “that didn’t work so well.” You really get a good grasp on who you are and what songs are good for you to sing. It’s a really great learning experience.
If you could communicate one message in your music, what would it be and why?
I definitely like to communicate the message of an undying love and unconditional love. I think in this world we go through so many broken relationships and so many things that never last. So I love to sing about love that does last and love that is real. Whatever that means for anyone, whether it’s from God or it’s a dream, like they dream about perfect love, that’s what I love to sing about. I hope it really inspires people, gives people hope and makes them feel loved. I think that’s my overall message.
