If you disrespect everybody that you run into, how in the world do you think everybody's supposed to respect you?

Be your own artist, and always be confident in what youre doing. If youre not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.

...the people at large absolutely gave James Brown respect. He was an original like a Rembrandt or a Picasso

I love to sing. It's just a natural thing for me.

I've been around long enough for people to know who I am and what my contributions are. They know me as more than just an artist. I think they know me as a woman as well.

And I was booked once to go on 'Ed Sullivan' and I got bumped and ran out the back door crying.

Soul is a constant. It's cultural. It's always going to be there, in different flavors and degrees.