I find that talking about myself is often the most boring thing in the world. Sixty per cent of interviews I find mechanical.

I think the important thing being a wife of a president is to know who you are and find a cause that corresponds to you. The truth is, it's hard to keep a job in that position. I kept playing music because no one could stop me from playing music at night.

People can have political opinions and put them into songs. I'd never deliberately do that, but that's a personal choice I'm inspired by my man but not by his previous position. I'm more inspired by people that are left out by society.

To me, the most poetic and intelligent way to bring up a subject is by showing very simply who you are and what you believe in.

Public people are definitely captives. It wasn't really my ambition, but that's what happened. If I could find another word that would be more precise, I'd tell that I'm captive of my need for acknowledgement. People ask me, "Isn't it terrible to be famous?" Not for me! I sort of need it. To be honest, I always enjoyed it. It's as if it gave me some structure. It's as if I needed someone else's eyes to look at myself.

Feminism is just like HIV awareness: It's not something we don't need anymore, it's something that is just as important as it was a few decades ago. It is a very important fight.

When I was having my hair and make-up done backstage at a fashion show, I would sneak in a copy of Dostoevsky and read it inside a copy of Elle or Vogue. But it would be pretentious of me to say I was more intelligent than the other supermodels.