Loneliness comes with life.

I finally faced the fact that it isn't a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems.

To learn your artistry and to be able to perfect that, is overwhelming. Especially when you are exuding love. The human emotion is a very delicate thing, so you have to be careful about how you present it because it can be kind of scary, or too overwhelming if you're not careful. So I try to just keep it love.

My mother was the first singer I had contact with. She sang constantly to us around the house, in church.

I am not self-destructive. I am not a person who wants to die.

Being around people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, all these greats, I was taught to listen and observe.

My mother sang with me in her stomach; I sang with Bobbi Kris in my stomach. I believe the child starts to develop within, and whatever you read, whatever you think, whatever you do affects the child.