I have gone from one relationship to a marriage and stepchildren.

Like all soul singers, I grew up singing in church but sometimes I would leave early and sit in the car listening to gospel band, The Blind Boys of Alabama. Hearing their lead singer Clarence made me connect the idea of church and show business and see how I could make a career singing music that stirred the soul.

I was a pioneer in MTV and I was there from the very beginning. So I saw how that developed and how loose it was and how much fun it was in its looseness. And I was influenced a lot by that.

I grew up in a very racially integrated place called Pottstown. It was an agricultural / industrial town which has since become a suburb of Philadelphia. I grew up basically in a black neighborhood.

To me, there's two kinds of music these days. There's ephemeral music, and there's music that has lasting power and depth.

What I do isn't black music, it's just my music.

Smokey Robinson is one of my heroes as a singer and songwriter, a major influence on my own music from the very start.