Singing is my life. And when I can do that, that's when I'm free. That's when I'm at my happiest, I'm at my most.

Singing is my life. And when I can do that, that's when I'm free. That's when I'm at my happiest, I'm at my most.

I sing because I'm happy.

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.

Some people can sit down and write a song, but they can't go on stage like I can.

I remember my sister and I - my big sister would get up on her chair in the kitchen and sing Mary Wells' "What's Easy for Two Is So Hard for One." It was 1966, and I was 10 years old.

Everything I've done and everything I've gained in my life has been with my music.