Being in this business for as long as I've been in it, it's sort of like living in a town or a city before the war and then after the war and then during the reconstruction and then during the time that it sprawls out to the malls.

It didn't matter as much because I'm a singer, not an actress, but my face is more acceptable in a way now than when I first came on the scene, because I'm part black.

Do you know how many concerts I've done in my whole life, in more than 35 years of performing? Sixty-four.

Life is a dream even in its most painful moments, it's a dream that we can dance to.

I always sang standards because the songs I wrote for myself weren't as easy to sing.

As a singer I tried on all these hats, these voices, these clothes, and eventually out came me.

You don't have to prove to me you're beautiful to strangers, I've got loving eyes of my own.