I learned something from that. If someone asks me something that I really don't want to do, I say no. I have to trust that. And I'm not afraid to talk money.

I want to go Africa. I want to go to China. There are some places I want to go not to work, but to really explore and to see for my own education.

People can take your name and write a book about you and they make money off of it. How is the public supposed to know you're not authorizing that book? As soon as you make a big stink about it it only makes the book sell more.

My family called me a wiggle tail because I was a little skinny, wiry kid full of energy.

The only recording studio was in Motown - it was called Tamla/Motown at that time and we used to audition there because Smokey Robinson was at that studio and Berry Gordy was the president. I remember asking Smokey to listen to my group and he did. For the first couple of years we were just singing background. We used to back up Marvin Gaye; Mary Wells was there then, Marv Johnson, the Marvelettes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Junior Walker and the All-Stars.

The first time I heard a Billie Holiday record, I thought, 'What's so great about Billie Holiday?'

Either black people end up being the best in sports, or else it's show business. You know, we all got rhythm.