I was not reluctant to become a singer. Singing has been an activity I've done my whole life, without thought.

I was always a politician from the day the civil rights people chose me as their protest singer.

Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.

What is love but a prelude to sorrow...with heartache ahead for your goal.

There are all kinds of things that can be done. You can change rhythms, you can change chords, you can change whole concepts. But it will only work, on a record or in a performance, if you can make the people buy it.

I was reared in the church from the age of three. I've played piano since I was three. I performed at revivals and for my people around North Carolina for several years. People around town collected money to send me to school.

I'm a real rebel with a cause.