I hear the echoes here of the teachers who told me that I couldn't sing, nor would I be able to, so to attempt to try was a waste of my time.
The same teachers were also telling me that all I needed to know when I left school was to be able to tot up my wage packet when I left whatever factory I managed to get a job in, at the end of the week. It was an damning arrogance that put me off music altogether until a series of happy accidents re-introduced me to it and gave me a love (obsession) that has dominated my life for half a century.
Nobody has the right to tell anybody they "can't" sing until they know what lengths they have gone to to learn, and, for that matter, how much effort they are prepared to put in to achieve some sort of a result.
I was lucky enough to have met people who were willing to pass on what they knew and share what they had in order to help me develop whatever little ability and interest I might have started out with.
Jim Carroll