Charting your own course isn't just more necessary than ever before. It's also much easier - and much more fun.

I've always felt that animals are the purest spirits in the world. They don't fake or hide their feelings, and they are the most loyal creatures on Earth. And somehow we humans think we're smarter-what a joke.

I'm very involved with PETA - People for Ethical Treatment of Animals - and Greenpeace and a lot of women's shelter and clothing giveaways.

I turned down Prince William's invitation for me to sing at his birthday bash because he was spearing animals in Africa and bringing publicity to it, and I thought that was pretty disgusting!

I sing my life. It's like I'm having group therapy 350 days a year, and the people who come to the show get that, and they're there for that - whether it's to be lifted up, or to be lifted out, or just entertained or inspired, or to feel not so alone.

I decided at 15 that I didn't want to be one of those artists that gets up and sings love songs they don't mean. I decided that I was going to be me to the fullest extent, that my songs were going to reflect relationships I've had, things I've been through, and even the stuff I'm embarrassed about.

What is a family without love? And by family I don't just mean a packed kitchen table with a hoard of children around it. A family can be made up of any number of people. Me and my fiancee are our own little family, a family of two (and the dog!), and our love is at the heart of that.