"Butterflies are always following me, everywhere I go."

"This is for all of you out there tonight, reaching for a dream - don't ever give up! Never ever listen to anyone, when they try to discourage you, because they do that, believe me!"

"Forget the image, forget the ensemble, forget the rumours, forget the short skirts, the big hair, whatever! I owe this to the fans and I will never forget you so I want to accept this award on behalf of all of you."

"My mother is Irish, my father is black and Venezuelan, and me - I'm tan, I guess."

"One day I promised God that if he would give me my voice back I would never smoke again. I got three octaves back after quitting."

"In this world, I call the shots and I think I know best."

"I hope to be around past the 90's. I don't want to just be categorized as one of this era. My goal is to have a career that stands."

"Basically, I started singing when I started talking. Music has just been my saving grace my whole life."

"There is a light at the end of the tunnel... hopefully its not a freight train!"

"I'm not one of those people that goes into details of my personal life on national TV to get attention. Some things are better left unsaid."

"I do not think I reinvent myself. Wearing my hair differently or changing my style of dress is playing dress-up. I don't take it too seriously."

"My heart has never been broken, I've never broken anyone else's."

"I don't think anyone knows as much about what's right for me as I do."

"I don't mind being compared to Whitney, there are people miles worse to be compared to."

"It's hard to be someone that people talk about and write about, you know? They don't know me."

"If critics have problems with my personal life, it's their problem. Anybody with half a brain would realize that it's the charts that count."

"A lot of people are singing about how screwed up the world is, and I don't think that everybody wants to hear about that all the time."

"Whatever you're going through in your life, don't ever give up."