“I was not reluctant to become a singer. Singing has been an activity I’ve done my whole life, without thought.”

Since I was three I’ve been playing the piano. I’ve been onstage.

Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.

There’s no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.

From the beginning, it has been a no-no for a black man to touch a white woman.

It doesn’t matter to me what is going on today because my music encompasses every kind of mood that exists in human beings. That’s my stick.

To be young, gifted and black!

We have ordered things so long in a certain way, we are numb. Nobody dares question it. This is what is wrong, symbolically, with America.

I would like a man now who is rich, and who can give me a boat – a sailboat. I want to own it and let him pay for it. My first love is the sea and water, not music. Music is second.

Greed has driven the world crazy. And I think I’m lucky that I have a place over here that I can call home.

Tomorrow, I might be in a different mood and you wouldn’t recognize my voice.

I don’t like rap music at all. I don’t think it’s music. It’s just a beat and rapping.

Through music you can become sad, joyful, loving, you can learn. You can learn mathematics, touch, pacing Oh my God! Ooh Wow You can see colors through music. Anything!

You can’t help it. An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.

Every day has its emotional difficulties. I miss my mother whether I’m singing her music or not.

Music has been a burden and a joy for as long as I can remember.

Jazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it’s a way of being, a way of thinking.

A singer’s biographical film should have their music and their voice.

When I was 15 I became a full-time singer in a band. At 18 I made my first record.

Yes, my life is a life of combat; I can say that this has never stopped for a single instant. It is a combat that started for me at the age of 16.

Little Willie John is the soul singer’s soul singer.

I was always a politician from the day the civil rights people chose me as their protest singer.

I have not practiced how to be a singer without an instrument.

Artie is a singer, and I’m a writer and player and a singer. We didn’t work together on a creative level and prepare the songs. I did that.

As a singer, I haven’t felt any lesser by not getting an award. Winning or not winning an award doesn’t affect me. I just like to do my work in the best possible manner. I am happy getting good songs. I am happy not getting awards.