And I've been hurt hurt bad. I might be just twenty-six, but I'm an old woman in disguise twenty-six goin'on sixty-five.

My heart is still there in gospel music. It never left . . . I'm gonna make a gospel record and tell Jesus I cannot bear these burdens alone.

I don't feel one's personal medical condition is everybody's business. It just isn't something you advertise, and it's not open to discussion.

R&B is not a fad; it's the truth.

Parents have to really talk to their children before they leave home.

Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening.

Don't say Aretha is making a comeback, because I've never been away!