My mother had a beautiful, soothing voice that made me melt.

There are certain realities we must speak of with our children that were not present when I was a child.

If there's ever been a dark moment in my life... well, I wanted to check out. Music was a big escape.

You don't have to give up who you are to be successful just because you're different.

I wrote poetry, which got me into lyrics. Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Elton John pulled me into pop. I started singing with a band - just for fun - when I was 17. And pretty soon, I was thinking I could sing pop in English as well as Spanish.

Wherever there's a human being there's going to be somebody that tries to hold you back.

It's a universal story, it's an immigrant story, and it's a love story. In the United States, if you believe in yourself and you're determined and persevere, you're going to succeed.