“I was the first judge in the 'Indian Idol' format. The biggest risk when you adapt a format from a country in the West is how to make it your own, so I remember at the press conference for Indian 'X Factor,' the press would ask, 'Who is Simon Cowell?' And I said 'Why don't you ask Simon Cowell, 'Who is Sonu Nigam?'”
“Before every show, I would call my mother and say, 'Mummy ,I don't know how I will sing today.' But that would change as soon as I went on stage and would merge with my music. She is my best ally, and I don't want to lose her. Nobody other than her would be concerned if I had eaten or had oiled my hair. She is my queen.”
“My dad has a lot of foresight and decided that I would not do any shows in Mumbai till I became a singer and got to sing my own songs. He knew that if I started earning money from shows, I would not have the time and aggression to rough it out to become a singer.”
“You don't have to be the sexiest girl or the most talented person to have the X factor. X factor is something you are born with that is your own. And the moment that you realize how to tap into that quality that you have within, and how to bring that individuality out of yourself, that is when you discover the X factor.”
“I know my destiny is moksh or liberation. I will not die for money or success. I am satisfied living the life I am leading, and I will die with dignity.”
“I was a topper till class tenth and wanted to initially be a scientist.”
“If I stop practising, I will be an average singer. There are a lot of singers I know who hardly practise, yet sing well.”
“My son is an integral part of my life; the fact of life is that parents and children need you; wife doesn't really need you.”
“I feel a composer should not crave to sing songs because songs itself decides its voice. The films where I have given music, I have kept my option for the last. I like to make music and not necessarily singing all the songs.”
“My mother taught me my first bhajan. My mother, Shobha Nigam, was a very religious woman. From her only I learnt 'Om Jai Jagdish' song and used to do puja along with her.”