My mother always wanted to be in show business, but her parents discouraged her. So when I started performing for the mirror she enrolled me in dancing, singing and piano lessons.

This has been a long and tiring battle for 10 years. And I'm glad it's finally resolved. My principles and reputation as a creative artist were involved here-it wasn't just about the royalties. I can now look foward to getting on with my career.

I haven't had a vacation in years. I'd really like to sneak off and just run around on a beach for a while.

The situation is not good with the record companies. It's just not working out, so I don't plan to record until it's straightened out. In the meantime I'm happy doing my movies and writing the music for the theme songs, whether I sing them or not.

We have a tendency in this country that when we say Black it automatically means Black Americans. But that's a big mistake, and that keeps us divided. There are Blacks all over this entire world-even in Africa.

I had been performing since I was 5, so it wasn't like I hadn't been on a stage before. I was always older than my age. That's my nature. I've always been a kind of mature kid.

The music industry had virtually blacklisted me.