I look at the careers of people I'm standing on the shoulders of. People like Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., and Sarah Vaughan. These are icons I wanted to emulate, and I feel like they've been holding me up for quite a long time.
I refuse to allow prejudice to defeat me.
Do you know that other than my father, I've never had a man take care of me?
I think it's a complete injustice, the way it's (the trial) being done
The music for me is paradise. I think it's where God lives.
During the time that my recording career seemed to be in a slump a music called disco came on the scene and literally took over radio stations as well as having radio stations created to play it which sort of negated my music as well as that of some of my peers.