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.

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.

I never felt entitled to anything. I'm the hardest worker I know.

Being at college, I think that's the time when you really start searching for things outside yourself.

Most artists try to avoid cliches, but it's pretty hard to avoid them if you yourself end up being one.

The biggest honor of my career was when I won R&B Artist of the Year back in the 1970s. I look at that as a major honor.

As a singer, I float around. I'm kind of scatty, bouncing around a lot. I try to adapt to what's going on around me in the song and the arrangement.