I'm in the trenches; I do the best work I can always do. Having said that, the way that what I do converges with the outside world is fascinating to me. Because it ebbs and flows. People's interest and understanding, it changes all the time.

Every artistic form has its golden age, and unfortunately I think the golden age for whatever I do probably ended about 1990.

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

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.

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

Nobody's going to sell 10 million records by not working hard.

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.