I felt about life and the way I felt about my children was so deep and profound. It was the first time I'd felt anything like that. I knew as an artist that it was going to make a huge difference in everything that I did.

This film [the Cell] certainly is not meant for the girls who sing along with my songs.

I always knew I wanted to be a performer, and my mother started taking me to dance classes when I was five. My mother is a teacher, my father works at an insurance company. When I said I wanted to be a performer, people went, "Yeah, right." You don't do that where I come from.

My own style influences have to do with where I grew up, in the Bronx, and I still like to wear bangles and big hoops!

You've got to love yourself first. You've got to be okay on your own before you can be okay with somebody else.

The weirdest thing about me is that I like to walk around naked.

It's a real roller-coaster ride if you're lucky to have longevity in this business - you have to be able to ride those waves.