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

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

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 have breakups that I can credit to every song. In my twenties, I picked people who would create that dysfunction and drama, so I could draw upon it.

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.

I felt like I got more comfortable on "Idol" when I just started being myself and not trying to be what I thought I had to be.