I've lived long enough to have learned, the closer you get to the fire, the more you get burned.

I can't think of one person I've ever met who didn't like some type of music.

Some of the stuff I'm writing is almost like hymns, some of my first singing and choral experiences were in church, the Church of Christ in Hicksville.

I tell the audience every night, "I hope you didn't pay more than face value on that ticket, because we ain't worth more than that, and you ain't gonna get any more than that."

I have been both praised and criticized. The criticism stung, but the praise sometimes bothered me even more. To have received such praise and honors has always been puzzling to me.

You only beat me if you get me to hate.

It's a little intimidating to walk into a studio and know that you're going to sing a duet with Barbra Streisand.