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
When I was first writing, I was writing mostly about sporting events, which was really what my assignments were. I was working on the Tour de France bike race and the Barcelona Olympic Games, and those songs tend to be very big, very bombastic-type music, which is the type of music that I love to write.
I was a geek in high school. I was about the same height I am now, a 6-foot-6 15-year-old with braces, smelling of Clearasil. The only way out was to get into a rock band. ... By the end, I was a rock and roll keyboardist who smelled of Clearasil.
There are so many miserable people out there who have not fulfilled their dreams. I believe you should do something that you love.
I worry a lot about what people think. I worry people think I'm not helping them enough, that they don't like my music, that I'm playing a song too fast or talking too fast. I worry my wife isn't happy with our relationship... I'm afraid somebody's going to take my career away from me. That it's going to go away, or I'm going to get fired.
Most of the people interviewing me are far more square than me. I think it's the ET thing. I'm sitting there, my hair is combed, and I'm in a suit.
You'll hear Christians being interviewed from time-to-time, but you won't hear us pray on-air. It's a Christian guy hosting a secular show.
Oprah was famous for going to a garden party and ad-libbing. She could literally interview people for a half hour about nothing, and it was entertaining. She had her own show before she had her own show.
People like Bryant Gumbel and Bob Costas are terrific broadcasters because they get challenged every day.
It's my job to try and be as good a person as I can, and that's enough work for me.
I've sort of become the poster boy for quitting your job and following your dreams.
We feel like if we miss a Sunday at church, that's one thing, but we can't miss an opportunity to help.
I call it 'the Etch A Sketch life.' Every few years, you should shake that thing up.
I hate to say it, but Christmas as a kid was always a moneymaking venture for me. I played trumpet, and a friend of mine who played trombone and a guy who played tuba, every Christmas we'd go out for three or four days beforehand and play Christmas carols on our horns.
We never want to go into a tour and play 15 songs and say 'Enjoy.' We have messages: Number 1, follow your dreams. If I can do it, you can do it. Number 2, give your life to something. We say, 'Volunteer and add seven years to your life.' You can have your own personal ministry. The message we have is 'What do you stand for?'