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

That is why we fly from the inner void, since God might steal into it. It is not the pursuit of pleasure and the aversion for effort which causes sin, but fear of God. We know that we cannot see him face to face without dying, and we do not want to die.

Greed has driven the world crazy. And I think I'm lucky that I have a place over here that I can call home.

I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.

Life is short. People are not easy to know. They're not easy to know, so if you don't tell them how you feel, you're not going to get anywhere, I feel.

I try to swim every damn day I can, and I've learned to scuba dive and snorkel.

You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.