"I just try to get out of my own way because if anyone is their own worst enemy, it's usually you."

"My tastes and inspirational artists were always rather eclectic and diverse."

"This is one hell of a business I picked to be in."

"I came out the box and for seven years I had a huge career. And then it's done, it's dumped. But I ain't gone, and I refuse to be gone."

"My current mantra is that sometimes we need teachers in our lives. I never had that in my life, parents and stuff like that; I tried to stay on the outside of them or anybody that had that kind of influence."

"So when I'm working out I do things extreme."

"But once you strip that down, you realize it's all about a voice, like a Norah Jones - that's inspiring to me."

"I have to be very careful about diet and exercise."

"When I first came out, like a lot of the artists at that time, I had a very polished, very overproduced sound."

"I started working out with a trainer and I immediately saw results."

"I smoked some pot as a kid, but I just never did drugs."

"Well, honey, I had the million dollar houses, I had the car, I had the horse, I had the barn; I had everything. Was I set free? I didn't even know what that meant."

"Plus, I am paranoid by nature. I need to be in control."

"Did people think I sounded black? Totally, but that was a marketing tool as well, but also this is how I grew up and these are my influences."

"All you needed back then was a blow dryer and a dream."

"And I'm also looking for a comeback record and it has to touch a lot of people."

"My first tour I was on the road for 18 months. You're just out there promoting."

"That's really my goal now. I'm trying to be a positive role model to my kids and to just enjoy this ride, because it's hard. It's hard to enjoy it when you're in it."

"If we were truly in the studio making a record, it would have been more time consuming, and certainly I would have been more involved in the writing process."