I'm not a braggart, but when I was a little girl people used to come from all over Hollywood to hear me sing.

Even as a little child, I've always had that comedian kind of attitude.

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.

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

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

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

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.