I don't want to sit on the sidelines and not value the gift of being here. Instead of the idea of time ticking away, the grains of sand running out, I try to think of time as giving me another grain of sand, another gift. So time passing is an accumulation, rather than a diminishing.

So close to touching freedom, then I hear the guards call my name

My father was a minister and so rock music was banned in our house.

In my new life, no room for a lost boy.

I think even in a good marriage, especially if you stay together long enough, there are going to be events that happen.

I survived this torture which left me paralyzed for years. That's what that night was all about, mutilation, more than violence through sex. I really do feel as though I was psychologically mutilated that night and now I'm trying to put the pieces back together again. Through love, not hatred. And through my music. My strength has been to open again, to life, and my victory is the fact that, despite it all, I kept alive my vulnerability.

There's a side to this industry that nurtures divas who can't write. It's a big business.