You treat a lady like a dame, and a dame like a lady.

You buy a Ferrari when you want to be somebody. You buy a Lamborghini when you are somebody.

To me religion is a deeply personal thing in which man and God go it alone together, without the witch doctor in the middle. The witch doctor tries to convince us that we have to ask God for help, to spell out to him what we need, even to bribe him with prayer or cash on the line.

With few exceptions, every major pop singer in the US during her generation has been touched in some way by her genius. It is Billie Holiday who was, and still remains, the greatest single musical influence on me. Lady Day is unquestionably the most important influence on American popular singing in the last twenty years.

The record shows, I took the blows . And did it my way.

The only male singer who I've seen besides myself and who's better than me--that is Michael Jackson.

Throughout my career, if I have done anything, I have paid attention to every note and every word I sing - if I respect the song. If I cannot project this to a listener, I fail.