The thing that's tricky is sometimes the best voices - just because someone hits the big notes and sounds amazing - it doesn't necessarily mean they make the greatest artists.

Some of the best songs that artists perform year after year are ones they hated.

Good new songs are the backbone of the music industry. There isn't an artist out there who could survive without hit songs.

I've never been fired in my life.

I was a pop-music junkie. My parents were into Frank Sinatra and Doris Day. They weren't too excited when I had Aretha or the Stones pumping.

I don't go to record stores to look at my albums, but it's always a thrill to see them.

I wanted a child, and there was no way I could get pregnant under the stress of 18-hour work days and live TV. When you're somebody who's used to making a decision about what they want to do and getting it and achieving it, when your body fails you, it's a whole other experience.