“I grew up poor, but I didn’t really know it because of amazing places like the Salvation Army where we got a lot of our Christmas presents from.”

I don’t think music can be held. I don’t think artists can be put into boxes or places. It’s all about creating and making the best music you can.

I think everybody gets lonely sometimes. I don’t know if people can ever understand how you can be in a room full of people and be lonely sometimes.

Change is a natural form of progression.

From the music I make, to the things I do in my life, I’m true to my R&B core.

I love Calvin Klein underwear. That’s the only kind of underwear I wear.

Petersburg, growing up at home, all by my family and friends, Petersburg really, city-raised me, you know everybody there.

I’ve never really been settled. I don’t think I’ve ever known what it was like to be a person that was used to sitting still. I think it’s given me the ability to detach from any situation.

It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t get a little nasty.

The first tattoo I got was when I was 17, and it’s a cross on my bicep with ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ underneath.

Style is a display of character. It’s also a great way to express yourself and the ladies like it.

I think ‘selfies’ are fun and expressive, as long as you don’t get carried away with it.

In my dressing room, you’ll definitely find some Starbursts and Skittles. I have a lot of candles that remind me of home, and a humidifier for my voice. I also have some digital Kodak albums where I have pictures of my friends and family.

A lot of people perceive women as sexy based on their outer appeal. But there’s no way to mistake if a woman is confident.

Singing wasn’t a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good.

I think clothes are very much a representation of your attitude and the way you feel. I really love to be dressed down, though.

Versace has always been a brand that I’ve loved, a brand that has supported me. I’ve been wearing Versace for so long, I come in here and I have friends here, and they really support what it is that I do. Our partnership has been great.

The performance is silent. The readers hear the sounds of the words and the beat of the sentences only in their inner ear. Silent drummers on noiseless drums. An amazing performance in an amazing theater.

I’m not that good looking… nobody is that good looking. I have seen a lot of movie stars, and maybe four are amazing looking. The rest have a team of gay guys who make it happen.

I see that the greatest thing about getting older is how your judgment changes and how you come to understand the cycles of life. And you keep having these amazing flashes of understanding.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.

Every time ‘Lady Macbeth’ and everyone involved in the film gets nominated, it’s amazing.

If you ever want to be interrogated, get Michael Shannon to do it. He’s an amazing man. I loved working with him.

I think the fact that I made enough noise in the world that I might be remembered is an amazing achievement. You can’t ask for more than that.

Iowa is an amazing place. But I didn’t have much race around me. I was definitely not like everyone there.