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 love the classics but there are many new ideas to be made into reality. I'd rather be concerned with my own thing. There are many masters of classical piano so I'll leave it to them.

I don't like drug addicts and she sounds like a cat.

Once I understood Bach's music, I wanted to be a concert pianist. Bach made me dedicate my life to music, and it was that teacher who introduced me to his world.

It doesn't matter to me what is going on today because my music encompasses every kind of mood that exists in human beings. That's my stick.

Tomorrow, I might be in a different mood and you wouldn't recognize my voice.

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