My mother used to play nothing but Billie Holiday.

My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that.

Long as I was riding in a big Cadillac and dressed nice and had plenty of food, that's all I cared about.

The two things you can't fake are good food and good music

All the things I used to like - cookies, ice cream, gumbo - I don't like anymore.

What happens is, when I perform, I'm somewhere else. I go back in time and get in touch with who I really am. I forget my troubles, my worries.

At last my love has come along. My lonely days are over and life is like a song.

I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture.

A lot of people think the blues is depressing but that's not the blues I'm singing. When I'm singing blues, I singing life. People can't stand to listen to the blues, they've got to be phonies.

When I sing for myself, I probably sing for anyone who has any kind of hurt, any kind of bad feelings, good feelings, ups and downs, highs and lows, that kind of thing.

I want a Sunday kind of love A love to last past Saturday night And I’d like to know it’s more than love at first sight

I promise not to hurt you, unless you try to take my shit. Then I'll twist your head off and hide it in a bush somewhere.

I'm very thankful to all my fans for their constant love and support. I am what I am because of their unconditional love.

I dream about 'Cheers.' Like when you go on a diet and you dream of pizza. I always think of those wonderful years. I loved working on it.

To make the growth choice instead of the fear choice a dozen times a day is to move a dozen times a day towards self-actualisation.

Nobody can take away from you those texts from the Bible which you have learned by heart.

The acrid scents of autumn, Reminiscent of slinking beasts, make me fear

I've always wanted to be a giant space crab.

It is said that government is a necessary evil, but it is far more evil than it is necessary.

In racing there are always things you can learn, every single day. There is always space for improvement, and I think that applies to everything in life.

I got this feeling I'm gonna die before I get old. I don't know why. I just have this feeling.