Nightline Playlist: Harry Connick Jr.

Dec. 12, 2008— -- Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. seemed destined to perform from the time he was born on Sept. 11, 1967, in New Orleans. While both of his parents were lawyers, they also owned a record store and encouraged their young son's passion for music.

At age 3, Connick was already learning the piano, and by the time he was 10 he was performing with a jazz band.

"Growing up in New Orleans, especially when you're interested in music, you have the whole city from which to draw inspiration from," Connick told "Nightline," in an interview conducted at the Empire Hotel Rooftop in New York City. "You have the whole city from which to draw inspiration from. It was an amazing place to be."

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So it is no wonder that as a teenager, Connick could be seen playing the clubs in New Orleans' French Quarter while attending the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. By the time he was 19, Connick had released his first album for Columbia Records and relocated to New York City to continue his studies at New York's Hunter College and at the Manhattan School of Music.

But it was in 1989 when a young Harry Connick Jr. hit the mainstream music world by composing and singing several songs for Rob Reiner's film "When Harry Met Sally."

The film's soundtrack went multi-platinum, and Connick's musical style earned him comparisons to Frank Sinatra. Sinatra even praised Connick and referred to his protégé as "The Kid."

For the past 20 years, Connick has performed everything from big-band standards to New Orleans funk and jazz. And in time for the holidays, Connick is promoting his second Christmas album, "What a Night!" But who inspires Harry Connick Jr.'s music?

"I pretty much like any kind of music. In my opinion, there's good and bad in all the different genres of music," said Connick.