To me, country music is like the blues, but it's something very hip and - I don't want to say commercial - but it's very worldly and good listening.

It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them.

Once you lose the weight, you're really anxious to eat healthy.

The only time that I am really truly happy—when I feel at my best—is when I'm on the stage.

People always say 'Etta, you know what your problem is? You're neither fish nor fowl. There is no place to rack you.' When I would go in a record shop, you might find one or two records by me in different stacks.

That's where it begins and ends for me and these songs were the ones that touched me the deepest. It was like I was laying hold of some part of me that I didn't even know was there until I let it out.

I talked to the record company about what I had in mind. They said they wanted something lush. I figured the best thing to do was let them hear what I had in mind.