I was aware of people staring at me. No one moved. They seemed almost in trance. I just stared at the clock in the center of the church. When I finished, everyone clapped and started crying.

No, I'm not a drug addict, and neither is my husband. If that were so, you'd get a lot less work out of me. It would show in the performances and in the work.

I'm not crazy about arenas just because I can sell them out. It doesn't do anything for my ego at all. I want to play places where people don't have to sit in the nosebleed seats and wonder what the hell is going on.

When I decided to be a singer, my mother warned me I'd be alone a lot. Basically we all are. Loneliness comes with life.

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

I would stay in my room for days, for days at times, just trying to get it together, to know what my next phase was going to be.

My mother taught me that when you stand in the truth and someone tells a lie about you, don't fight it.