There are so many beautiful things that are a part of the world, and Ive always looked at life that way; Ive always tried to put on a smile and a brave front, not just for my kids but in my own life and all the difficulties that Ive gone through.

If you're trying to do what's popular now, you're way behind already. By the time you record it and do it and try to copy it, it's moved on.

Being Latin parents makes us extremely expressive with our affections.

My mom was definitely very strict with me.

I've been offered a lot of things that celebrities do that I wouldn't do, like perfumes, lines of clothing and this, that and the other.

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.

Later in life, the memories I have of my mother are of constant work balanced with caring for my ailing father.