I still have my eyes on the prize: I want to be that old lady onstage shaking her hips and singing her greatest hits.

You used to have to sing and convey emotion, and now, well, technically you can do anything with technology. It sucks for music today, but that's why that old music feels so good to me.

I thought I knew who you were, but I see now you were a lesson to learn, and all I am to you now is a bridge that’s been burned.

Independence was a big, big thing for me. I saw my voice as a way out - when my parents fought, I'd run up to my room, put on The Sound of Music, open the window and sing out. My voice was my escape.

It's important for someone who's dealt with violence to be able to talk to someone, no matter who it is. So I'm vocal about how I feel. That's how I've worked through a lot of my problems.

I think it's a given that people know what I can do vocally.

My parent's divorce and hard times at school, all those things combined to mold me, to make me grow up quicker. And it gave me the drive to pursue my dreams that I wouldn't necessarily have had otherwise.