I'm grateful to be alive, because I really did not think I was going to be alive, onstage performing songs.

I'm not planning on singing too late. Maybe another eight or 10 years is enough before I retire. It would also be great to revisit all these stunning places around the world where I have toured.

I've got these five-pound weights and a treadmill in the living room. I work out the other parts that have affected my voice: my diaphragm - doctors took mine out in surgery - and my lungs. I've got to build back my legs, too, so I can run across that stage. I've got a lot to do, but I'm going to get out, sing songs and tell the stories.

Music is my happiness, my joy, and when my body wasn't right I couldn't get into my music without being healed, without being healthy.

I know for one thing that alcohol will have no more part in my life.

Maybe I won't have as much energy. And maybe the highs in my voice won't be what they used to be. But exercise is helping me pace myself.

If God watches over a little sparrow, you know, if he takes care of the birds, a little sparrow. Here I am, one of his children, you know, he got so many of us down here. Human beings that send our faith up and believe. And if he watch over a sparrow, I know he watches over me.