I believe AIDS is the most important issue we face, because how we treat the poor is a reflection of who we are as a people.

My mixed-race background made me a broad person, able to relate to different cultures. But any woman of colour, even a mixed colour, is seen as black in America. So that's how I regard myself.

I'd rather believe in my own choice and see it all go wrong than do something I'm not fully convinced of and later feel guilty about it.

I think it's the ego in us that screws us up.

I've always expressed myself best through writing. I've gotten out all of my deepest feelings that way for as long as I can remember.

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.

Everything you want to be, you already are. You're simply on the path to discovering it.