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Note how people went straight from assuming he "just didn't have singing ability" to "you're lucky to be born with singing ability"

It's suprising how often years of hard work is trivialized as "luck" or "inherent ability".

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You see this a lot on tv, where people survive a plane crash and thank the lord, rather than the pilot and engineers. Or are cured of cancer and thank god, rather than the team of surgeons and years of hard working medical scientists.

Or lies praying in a hospital.

Interestingly these people rarely, if ever, start taking cancer drugs in a church.

As long as I can remember, I've been a good singer. I've also always enjoyed singing, so the thousands of hours of practice accumulated during childhood, in the car, in the shower, etc. didn't really seem like "hard work". I wouldn't say I've had to work to develop my singing ability in the same way Derek has.

That's a good point. Did your parents sing with you? Are they "musical" (ie. play instruments or such)?

We sang in church, and I took cello lessons and was involved in a choir, but neither of them actively played an instrument. My mother was also a good singer.

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