When Malcolm X was assassinated I was working at the Apollo. They brought his body to the Unity Funeral Home, which was around the corner.

I'm not a bourgeois person, never will be.

Most of the songs I sing have that blues feeling in it. They have that sorry feeling. And I don't know what I'm sorry about. I don't.

My mother always wanted me to be a jazz singer, but I always wanted to be raunchy.

I was a sloppy kid, wanted to be just wild.

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

Long as I was riding in a big Cadillac and dressed nice and had plenty of food, that's all I cared about.