I definitely dislike pomposity and artifice. I hope that I'm not that. Once I write a song, it belongs to the world, and the way people perceive it, it's cool.

Yes, I travel in unusual circles. George Osborne and his wife Frances are my cousins.

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

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.

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.

Chronic Lyme causes arthritis, heart problems, stroke - even death.