John Tesh
John Tesh
John Frank Teshis an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His ten-year-old Intelligence for Your Life radio show reaches 14.2 million listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted Intelligence for Your Life TV with his wife Connie Sellecca. The syndicated TV program airs on 154 stations that cover 93% of the potential U.S. television...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth9 July 1952
CountryUnited States of America
Big band music, to me, it really has three key elements. First is the lyrics are really sweet, and they're just really family-friendly. The second thing is the music is jazz music, so the music is complicated enough to hold your attention for 5 or 6 million plays. That makes the songs interesting. The last part is the fact that it's danceable.
I guarantee you that the people who watch 'Conan O'Brien' or who watch 'Entertainment Tonight' and probably a lot of these other programs have never heard of Operation Blessing. Maybe they have heard of UNICEF, and I'm sure they have heard of the Red Cross, but they haven't heard of this organization.
When I was playing piano, it was like, 'I'm going to write a song using all the white keys.' My music director, who knew my jazz background, suggested I try big-band music, so we spent a year experimenting with it in concert, and the audience reaction was really good.
I'm almost a vegetarian. I have a very rigid exercise routine. I'm up at 6 A.M.; I take a lot of ginseng.
I grew up with the Woodstock generation. I went to Woodstock, and like everybody in my school, I wanted to be in a rock-and-roll band, and most of us were. But I also grew up with a lot of piano lessons and a lot of classical music training.
He was a teammate. It would be like the catcher on the baseball team talking about what a jerk the pitcher was. It's just an unwritten rule that you don't do that.
I am always exhausted; I am always trying to find more time to be with my family, which is why they travel with me so much.
We have eight million people listening each week. That's more than the number of people who watched me on Entertainment Tonight.
My house was really like 'It's a Wonderful Life.' I sang in the choir and was very involved in the church.
My favorite bands were Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Jethro Tull, Uriah Heep, Grand Funk Railroad. If you listen to some of my early music, you can hear it.
I was really raised by three women - my mom, and I have two older sisters, one nine years and one 11 years older - so I'm happy to have that many women in the house.
None of those jobs were high-profile, but once I was on ET, people then began to associate me with that show. So, that is the thing that many people know me for. When in effect, that was the end of my television career.
I used almost every penny I ever made to build recording studios in every city I lived in. I don't have much to show for all the TV money except a lot of musical gear and a lot of songs.
Really, at a time when they're debating when and where a nativity scene can be used, this is the kind of stuff we need to have out there - outside of the church.