Brandi Carlile: What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? — FLAPSS

The question

What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

BC

Brandi Carlile

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I’m the happiest right now. I can see that I’m in a kind of sweet spot: my parents are alive, my kids are little, my wife is hot and my body doesn’t hurt.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 577 →

George Michael English singer-songwriter

When I'm in love.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 August 2014 source ↗

Vera Lynn English singer and entertainer

When my daughter, Virginia, was born, in 1946.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 December 2009 source ↗

On a beach, watching my girls do cartwheels, with a Goombay Smash with a floater on top.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2025 source ↗

Anita Rani British broadcaster and journalist

The day I passed my driving test, at 17.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 July 2021 source ↗

More from Brandi Carlile

View profile →

Question How would you describe what love feels like to you? Relationships

A lifelong sleepover.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗

Question What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you? Failure & regret

I love you but I hate your lifestyle.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗

Question What trait do you most dislike in other people? Values & belief

Greed, lack of empathy. Same thing.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗

Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains

Human, evolving and faithful.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗

Question What most recently moved you to tears? Identity & self

I cried last week after talking about marriage equality with my daughters. My oldest let slip that she believed that if the supreme court overturned Obergefell, she wouldn’t have parents any more. I felt angry with my country and ashamed that I didn’t consider the possibility that she might think that.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗

Question What lesson has mattered most in your life? Time & hindsight

Sacrifice the self and you will gain it. Serve the self and you will lose it.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗

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