I also met, early on Ella Fitzgerald. Her songbooks are some of the most amazing bodies of work.

But I am very grateful for my success, and with success, of course, comes a whole lot of celebrity.

It's very much like opera singers. They do the same thing. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, the thing they think about is their voice and how to take care of it.

I love the house that I've been living in for over 40 years. I really am a homebody and I still love to play golf.

When I do an album I try to find a producer that's excited about something that they want me to sing, and I check with the record company to find out what they think they can sell - which is their No. 1 priority.

Its just that some people are lucky and people still seem to enjoy the music.

I'm really pretty much a regular person who just got very lucky. I got involved early on in my life with a lot of wonderful people who helped me and guided me. I found out what I really liked to do and that was sing. And I had a lot of help to accomplish most of my goals.