I'm from California, and still live in LA.

You never know where a blessing can come from.

I play guitar, piano, bass and percussion.

Overall my race hasn't been a problem. I'm a black artist with white skin. At the end of the day you have to sing what's in your own soul.

I try to keep my ear to the streets without sacrificing who I am as an artist. If a song needs a drum machine I'll use a drum machine. If it needs a drummer, I'll use a real drummer.

I always try to be a trend setter. That's what I always tell young people when I'm giving them advice. To go with their heart and don't follow the trends.

OK, so truth hurts - but what else does truth do?

I would walk down the hall with my guitar and play for anyone that would listen. As a young kid I was really driven and I was going to make it happen no matter what.

I still have a passion for the music, which is such a beautiful thing. I still wake up in the middle of the night out of a dream and have a melody in my head, and run to my piano.

I have enough love to last me a lifetime! Thank God I'll never lose my imagination and my passion. That's really what it is. I'm still passionate about what I do.

I dont plan on stopping anytime soon.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

Don't entrust your future on others' hands. Rather make decisions by yourself with the help of God's guidance. Hold your beliefs so tight and never let go of them!

Probably, had World War II not come along and intervened, I would have tried to be a doctor. My son's a doctor, and I still take some medical journals to this day.

The cure for unhappiness...It's this: What a person needs is always more than they say.

Peace is a virgin who dare not show her face without Strength, her father, for protection.

I'm not hard to please, I'm content with the very best.

No lifetime is a loss if you've leaned something, because that learning stays with you. There is no such thing as a wasted life, if you have learned.

You could travel the world, but nothing comes close to the golden coast. Once you party with us, you'll be falling in love, Oooooh Oh Oooooh!

Everything has a lifecycle. You have to believe it’s going to change.

Making the big shot wouldn't feel so good if missing it didn't feel so awful