Men are able to sustain a career into their 50s and 60s and still present themselves as sex symbols. With women, on the other hand, people say, 'Why doesn't she retire?'

Growing up in Cleveland, I learned about singing from my mother, who had once sung professionally and who admired Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin.

I think it's important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in.

Songwriting is a very mysterious process. It feels like creating something from nothing. It's something I don't feel like I really control.

It's time to start all over/make a new beginning.

I think many people would say that writers like Stephen King have hypergraphia.

With other people, you're always swapping music. Somebody is always listening to something you've never heard. It's a great way to hear all sorts of new things.