Nothing is ever a setback. If anything, it just motivates you for what's next.

I think all of us as women have this super-human quality. We create life, we give life, we are the sources of life for our children - we're all pretty bionic.

It's an amazing thing to say, 'I'm beautiful,' without feeling like you're cocky.

I have a lot of aggression in me that needs to come out in a not-very-precise or articulate way.

I knew there would be a negative reaction in the press to my divorce, but I am not going to live my life because of something someone might say.

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.

I was 21. At the time, I was under the thumb of my label, and I felt like I had to do, say and act out everything they asked me to do. I was trying to please them and the public and finally I had to say, "Enough. I'm going to make a record that makes me happy and addresses all facets of being a woman. I don't care if I sell one or one million records." That's how I came to make Stripped.