I got a job when I was 15 because my allowance was about $20 a week which in New York was impossible. So I used to waitress across the street from where I grew up.

O, say does that star-spangled flag of pride yet wave? O'er the land of the free, and the home for the gay!

I want you to forget all your insecurities. I want you to reject anyone of anything that's ever made you feel like you don't belong or don't fit in or made you fell like you're not good enough or pretty enough or thin enough or can't sing well enough or dance well enough or write a song well enough or like you'll never win a Grammy or you'll never sell out Madison Square Garden, you just remember that you're a goddamn superstar and you were born this way!

I used to be so delusional. I always imagined I could be more than I was, and eventually I grew and evolved into that person.

In case you're wondering whether I lip synch, the answer is no... people think so because I sound so good.

Pop music will never be low brow.

I had a boyfriend who told me I'd never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I'd fail. I said to him, 'Someday, when we're not together, you won't be able to order a cup of coffee at the f***** deli without hearing or seeing me.'