For me able to do the records I want to do and not have to worry about this producer or that producer or that trend, I'm not really interested in that.

Lionel Richie told me forget about the critics. But if you come back with hit after hit, you don't have to worry about anything.

I wanted to put jazz on the record, all the loves of music that I had on the record, so I could show people I was ahead of my 19 years. It may have been over the heads of some people.

When it's your chance to step up to the plate, just hit it out of the park, and everybody will forget about everything that came before.

As I've gotten older, now I've really got to back that up with record sales. Anytime showed me that I could still have some of those elements I wanted, but you still have to come with hit after hit after hit.

I just want people to take a step back, take a deep breath and actually look at something with a different perspective. But most people will never do that.

I don't care how small the game. I want to win.