I don't think there can ever be too many messages about AIDS. If you stop the education process, then people are going to think the problem is all over and done with. They'll think that it's OK to go and have sex again. Education is essential, especially among young people.

Lawdy Mama, those Friday nights when Suzy wore her dresses down tight.

When I say I don't have to write pop songs anymore, there's no way I'm going to get on the radio at 60 years of age unless I'm doing a duet with [Lady] Gaga or I was on All of the Lights, which was a Kanye West record that managed to get on the radio.

My old man is drunker than a barrel full of monkeys, but my old lady she don't care.

We live in an age, in an era where there is so much negativity, there is so much violence in the world, there is so much unrest and people are at war, that I wanted to promote the word love and red signifies love.

Basically, I wanted redemption for the way I lived my life beforehand, and that was the drugs, the drink, the loose sex, whatever.

I just wish more of my fellow queers would come out sometimes. It's nice out here, you know?