You know, I'm all for practice, I'm all for hard work trumps talent etc.

But this is a really bad example. I promise i'm not trolling. I actually went to his archives and listened to his music. I hate to say this, but the guy can't sing. On top of that, the improvement from as he says his "early days" to the latest stuff (1999), is marginal.

I think his point still stands. He just uses a bad example.