We protect aspirin bottles in this country better than we protect guns from accidents by children.

It's very tough for a woman in the music business, and he really was such a motivator from the beginning, when I was super-shy, and he saw a lot in me on a personal level that he knew could carry through on the stage.

All I tell artists is, 'Do what you love. Never let anybody talk you into changing what your musical idea is just to try to get a hit, because you're chasing your tail that way. It's not going to happen, and if you're successful, you have to do it the rest of your life. Stay true to it and do it for the sake of the art.'

I spent 15 years on the road between touring and recording and I never saw anything. I want to enjoy life.

Family has always been the number one priority no matter what happens anywhere else.

Having felt people's love and support first hand through difficult moments in my life makes me feel it's our responsibility to help one another.

The reason I’m not more political is because I have music. And from a young age, I needed it. After prison, my father came to America, joined the Army, fought in Vietnam - and was exposed to Agent Orange. He died a slow, horrible death. Music was my escape.