I sing because I’ve forgotten how to scream.

You know, I feel as comfortable in an uncomfortable situation as I do when things are going smoothly.

My dad and mom believed that you do what you have to do in private and don't make a big deal out of it. Just try to help people as much as you can.

All I can do is worry about me and my family. I don't really worry about anybody else, they have to do what works for them

The whole 'American Idol' way of looking at things is the antithesis of what I grew up with. There are a whole lot of kids wanting to be famous now, whereas if I'd even mentioned that word to one of my teachers, I would have got into a whole load of trouble.

My dad was the district attorney of New Orleans for about 30 years. And when he opened his campaign headquarters back in the early '70s, when I was 5 years old, my mother wanted me to play the national anthem. And they got an upright piano on the back of a flatbed truck and I played it.

There's some things I can't write about, just terrible personal tragedies.