It's not so much for me where you come from, who you are, what race you are. We're just human beings that are still a work in progress and there's a lot that we've got to overcome, so that we can all be equal.

Well first of all, I'm a singer. I sing since I talk. So the great ballad singers, the people that sang with so much feeling, jazz, blues, all those singers, they were songs that I listened to, records that my mom played for me, and then later I bought.

I don't want anything from Cuba. I want them to be free and enjoy the things I enjoy.

Everybody's not as fortunate as I've been that can have their hubby with them on the road, that we can do whatever we want and mainly be honest with the kids. Just the time that you do give them, make it be great time. It doesn't have to be hours.

I am trying to teach my children to feel a responsibility for their fellow human beings and a sense of connection with ... the world around them.

I've sung since I talked, when I'm two, but what I sang was ballads, because it's very hard to do a dance track with your little acoustic guitar when you're a kid.

We kiss and hug our kids a lot! And even now when our son lives 3,000 miles away, we talk every day, sometimes several times.