All the things I used to like - cookies, ice cream, gumbo - I don't like anymore.

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

I’ve learned to live with rage. In some ways, it’s my rage that keeps me going. Without it, I would have been whipped long ago. With it, I got a lot more songs to sing.

I like to shop, but I don't like to go out to dances.

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

Johnny Guitar... just one of my favorite singers of all time. I met him when we were both on the road with Johnny Otis in the '50s when I was a teenager. We traveled the country in a car together.I would hear him sing every night.

When I'm singing the blues, I'm singing life.