I felt ashamed about everything. Me dropping out of high school, me not, you know, just not being beautiful enough. I just didn't feel like I was smart enough or beautiful enough, you know, for years.

I still get nervous about singing. I drink tea with honey and lemon before every concert. And I need to have scented candles in all of my hotel rooms.

The music business is not a good place for people who don't know things.

I like what I see when I'm looking at me when I'm walking past the mirror.

I don't think I'll do foster care or adopt, to be quite honest.

As a kid, I was in love with Michael Jackson, and I just knew I was going to marry him someday.

As a child I always wanted to be a singer. The music my mother played in the house moved me - Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Mahalia Jackson. It was truly spiritual. It made you understand what God was. We are all spirits. We get depressed. But music makes you want to live. I know my music has saved my life.