A sense of humor, integrity, intelligence. Also, factual accuracy.

Their loving forbearance.

Forbearance with my chronic tardiness.

Find the friends who do that. Find the friends who never tell you that you can’t do it, but who point you in the right direction, hold you when you fail, and push you when you need the push. Those are hard friends to value sometimes, but they are the best of friends.

I can sing my ass off, better than I could before.

When I was just singing with my brothers in our house. I was hoping I could become a success to give my mother and my father a better way of living.

My worst habit was drugs, though I haven't done that in 20 years. Cocaine makes you smoke cigarettes and the two of them make you drink. If you are fortunate, you grow up; if you are not fortunate, you go out.

I always say: "They throw me on stage and they throw me off!" I get so carried away, I carry on singing … once I played for two and a half hours. I always say to my guy, please let me know I gotta get off 15 minutes before, because I hate to rush. Give me a flashlight or something. Because I never want to get into a place where they say: "He wouldn't come off!"

They always said, "You can sing your way out of the ghetto."

I always say: "They throw me on stage and they throw me off!" I get so carried away, I carry on singing … once I played for two and a half hours. I always say to my guy, please let me know I gotta get off 15 minutes before, because I hate to rush. Give me a flashlight or something. Because I never want to get into a place where they say: "He wouldn't come off!"