When I was 12 and started to take singing lessons from a woman, she told me that I would probably spend the rest of my life taking care of my voice.

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

I always made sure that I kept the dignity, or tried to keep the dignity that they showed, by standing there and singing and not doing too much else, because I didn't know what else to do. But you know, sometimes you can get carried away and I don't know, lose your composure or something.

Thank God for vinyl! It's wonderful to be involved in something that captures your life from almost the beginning to the end. I'm absolutely blessed.

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

In other words, the celebrity gets out of hand, and if youre not careful, you will forget what you are about - and that is you are about making music that people want to hear.

And fortunately, I haven't had any problem with my voice. I've been able to sing at a level of consistency that the people are expecting.