I've never been one for keeping a journal, so my songs were my journals. They allowed me to express my feelings and let people know what was going on with me. I knew that somebody would relate.

I wanted to be a jockey. I'm serious. First time I got on a horse, I loved it. That's what I wanted to be, but my dad asked me to start performing with my family.

Just like Marilyn Monroe is a lot of girls' idol, that's how I feel about Dorothy Dandridge. And she any Marilyn were very close friends. She went through a lot, and people told her that she couldn't do certain things, but she didn't let that bother her. She said in her mind that she was going to do them and that nothing was impossible, and she did it. It was so sad... She died from drugs, and drinking as well.

You don't know how many people come up to me and say, 'This child was conceived listening to you.'

The greatest achievement to any human being is to love God, yourself, and others.

In 1977, at age ten, I was cast on the TV sitcom 'Good Times.' My character was Penny, an abused child in desperate need of love. I really didn't want to do the show. I didn't want to be away from my family.

I wanted to talk about my life. There is so much. I was 18 when I made the record, and I had a lot to say.