Kristin Chenoweth: “I’m A Good, Christian, Southern Girl.”

The album I sang into my hairbrush
Donna Summer
The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer
Utv, 2003
“She just goes off on ‘No More Tears.’ That was a big one for me because as a little kid I knew everything that Barbra Streisand did, and me and my best friend down the street would take turns with a brush—we would take turns being Donna and Barbra singing. I was the freak who was listening to Donna Summer, trying to be black. She’s now dedicating her life to Christ. I say, you go, girl, as long as you’re not judgmental about it.”

The album that I see in the mirror
Dusty Springfield
Dusty in Memphis
Rhino/Atlantic, 1969
“Dusty—It’s almost like she’s speaking to you, which is always what you want. I’d love to do her life story. She was very, very insecure, she grew up a chubby kid with acne in England, and was kind of an outcast who always went home and listened to her records. I understand that. Everybody tells me, ‘You seem so confident, like you have the world by a string.’ But I don’t care who you are—if you’re a creative person, you are insecure. That’s what we draw from.”

The album with balls
Melissa Etheridge
Breakdown
Island, 1999
“Oh my God, did you see her at the Grammys? With no hair from chemo and belting out Janis Joplin like that. Sometimes when you’re watching something on television, it doesn’t have the impact of seeing a live performance. But this transferred all the way across the screen. Melissa has balls. She was all the way against the wall. She blew me away. My mom has battled breast cancer, and she’s a great example.”

The album that makes me like Don Henley
Eagles
the Very Best OfWsm, 2003“I will always love the Eagles—they were the first band I ever heard live. Don Henley is a great songwriter. The first time I heard ‘Trying to get down to the heart of the matter even if you don’t love me anymore,’ I remember thinking, ‘Oh, that’s a really different kind of idea.’ I thought, ‘I don’t get that!’ But I never forgot it. And as I got older, it started to sink in. Which is probably a pretty good definition of a classic song—you don’t understand it and you can’t leave it behind.”

The album that got me through a breakup
Elliott Smith
Figure 8
Dreamworks, 2000
“People meet me and see a petite blonde Southern comedienne. But ask any of my ex-boyfriends, and they’ll tell you, ‘She’s a tortured soul.’ And Elliott Smith, well, he was a tortured soul too. All of these songs are so theatrical, when I listen I can see all of them strung together in some sort of show. I was going through a pretty gross breakup when this record came out, and it really spoke to me. I wore that record out.”

The album to ward off Duff and Lohan
Rufus Wainwright
Poses
Dreamworks, 2001
“We’re getting fed the Hilary Duffs and Lindsay Lohans of the world—manufactured, all about the package. To me they’re not the real deal. Rufus Wainwright is meat. There’s a song of his, ‘Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk,’ about addiction and all the things that you do to get through life. I told him I wanted to cover that song. I’m a good Christian Southern girl, but we all have our addictions, and I don’t think anybody puts it better than him.”

The album to start a high speed chase
Lenny Kravitz
Greatest Hits
Virgin, 2000
“Just because I played Marian the Librarian on Broadway doesn’t mean I have her taste. I’m just gonna say it—he’s hot. And though I like the new songs, I really love ‘American Woman.’ When I heard him on TRL, and I didn’t even know who he was, he was, sooo, like, prayerful. So wonderfully unaffected. To me what he does is gospel. And when I just want to get in the car and drive, I put this record on.”

The album that takes me home
Dolly Parton
Ultimate Dolly Parton
RCA, 2003“I grew up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and was raised on country and gospel music, and I totally relate to her sound. I got the opportunity to meet her when we both sang at a Fourth of July event. She is never, ever nasty. She treats the second stage crew guy like her own family, and it’s impressive. If I’m ever feeling like I don’t want to be kind to people all the time, I think of her.”

The album that's like, soooo deep
India.Arie
Acoustic Soul
Motown, 2001
“The best song is ‘Ready for Love.’ Maybe because I feel that way. Nothing could be said more perfectly. She just wants a man and she’s offering it up—she wants someone spiritual, she wants someone smart, there’s no putting on anything false. I wish I could say things as eloquently as she does in that song, about being a single woman and what you want in a guy. I want for her nothing but success.”

The album that every ex-cheerleader loves
No Doubt
Tragic Kingdom
Interscope, 1995
“I love Gwen Stefani, everything about her. I was a cheerleader in high school and she sounds like she was too! I can see myself being friends with her. And I really love ‘Don’t Speak,’ maybe because I’m a woman. Don’t speak, I don’t want to hear it, I know what you’re going to say, I know where this is going …. There are better voices, surely, but she is an original.”