I might have become a minor celebrity but royalty checks were a long way off.

Once your name becomes well known, politicians come courting.

I grew up not liking my father very much. I never saw him cry. But he must have. Everybody cries.

Mother was a talkative person, and I was a lot like her.

In 20 years I had sold more records for RCA than any artist except Elvis Presley.

Performing is an experience, for me, that is as humbling as it is energizing.

I don't care what the religion is called; as far as I'm concerned, one God, the God I adhere to, is in charge of all of them.