I had heard blues and jazz all my life but I was never aware that it was associated with nightclubs and drinking.

My love is like the wind and wild is the wind. Give me more than one caress, satisfy my hungriness. Let the wind blow through your heart for wild is the wind.

I think the rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. I don't think the black people are going to rise at all; I think most of them are going to die.

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

It's time to take a look at my failures and stop calling them successes. Now I can start working at something that can use me best.

How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?

How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it