Musicians used to be way more instrumental just in providing a soundtrack to what's going on in the world. And it's also important to state what we think. There's like this fear for their career, if they have anything intelligent to say about politics. And that's really messed up.

You have to identify what you care about and why you care about it. It has to be personal. It has to be something that fires you up or means something to you, or it's not going to drive you.

How terrible would it have been if I had come out with some watered-down version of who I am? People fell in love with the real me, and I still feel blessed that that was how the journey began.

Moments are so fleeting; I want to hold on to the good ones. When I am truly present, I feel alive, and I want everyone around me to share that feeling so we can make the most of that moment together.

Even when I'm singing on record there's a lot of times when I'll fight for a bit of imperfection. I might not have quite hit the note to the perfect pitch, but there was a soul in there and feeling that,to me, delivers the emotion of that moment. For me, doing a show, the excitement of singing live, and the possibility that you're not going to be perfect - that's the thrill of it.

What acting does bring that music doesn't bring for me is the opportunity is the opportunity to be completely different in every way from whom you normally are, the person that you are when you wake up in the morning is who you are in your life. But to take that and have the opportunity to be the complete opposite of that, is the excitement of it.

Listening to great music and art inspires me and recharges me.