I've gone through the village of my songwriting and my artistry, and I've gone through lots of different phases, including one where it has been very quiet and abandoned me for a few years.

I grew up not understanding what was true and what was not true. It gave me a sense of unreality. I was told that this man [mom's lover] was not my mother's lover - when he was. I was told he was there as a male babysitter for my brother so that he would learn sports and other manly things.

We need role models who are going to break the mold.

You know when you take the paint off an old canvas and you discover that something's been painted underneath it? That's what I feel like - that part of the old is coming through the new.

Worrying too much about other people's ears and not my own, I lost my way.

I'm still more comfortable with standards than with my own songs.

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