With the internet, things are so much more immediate. People taste-test things to see if they want to buy the CD.

You can't make everybody love what you do, but you can know how great you feel doing it.

You're presuming too much by using the word legacy - presuming that someone is going to care.

I was blown away by the control and the range that I was hearing. I'm listening to Pavarotti and thinking, What the hell have I been doing with my voice all these years?

Someone told me there was a publisher that could find a good home for my songs, but I didn't want to give up my pursuit of a career in the business as an artist.

There are certain people who have become better artists, but they're brilliant at marketing. I think someone who's been phenomenal like that is Madonna.

When you have great songs that are going to live longer than the composers, everything you can do to bring those different elements and nuances out, serve the song.

I love songwriting. It's second to my love for singing in how I express myself.

Considering the amount of information we're bombarded by, it's amazing if a song can transcend time.

A lot of my success comes from black music. It's something I'm very proud of.

A lot of the greatest compositions were made famous by Sinatra.

Black music has increased my enjoyment of what I do. It has increased my range, my ability to reach into myself and accept myself.

Dr. King is so inspiring, so impressive, so moving as a human being.

For years I've kept a list of dream projects.

I have friends who've tried to break into the UK, who went back with their tails between their legs. Fortunately I've had the opposite experience.

I have to be happy in the here and now because every time you start focusing on your legacy you're really setting yourself up for disappointment.

I kept looking to do songs that were written years ago and would live or outlive all of us, and the one thing they had in common was Sinatra.

I'm proud of my mentors. Ray Charles is the strongest influence on me as a singer.

It's a combination of melody and lyrics, not one without the other. It's a confluence of these different elements that makes something powerful.

It's an important thing to remember where you came from.