The whole basis of my singing is feeling. Unless I feel something, I can't sing.

There's no damn business like show business - you have to smile to keep from throwing up.

The only reason they're out there is to see me fall into the damn orchestra pit.

I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close order drill, or exercise or yodeling or something, not music.

Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen and I was three.

New Orleans is the only city in the world you go in to buy a pair of nylon stockings they want to know your head size.

You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.