“I know that I could really kill for my daughter. I know because I'm living for her, so I'm fierce when it comes down to it. And I feel the same about my husband and my family. I'm just fiercely protective. It's like, that's my lair and nobody messes with my lair.”
“I was aware of people staring at me. No one moved. They seemed almost in trance. I just stared at the clock in the center of the church. When I finished, everyone clapped and started crying.”
“I don't like it when they [media critics] see me as this little person who doesn't know what to do with herself -- like I have no idea what I want, like I'm just a puppet . . . . That's demeaning to me, because that ain't how it is, and it never was.”
“I've got a good man. He takes care of me. I don't have to be scared of anything because I know he will kick every ass... disrespect him and you've got a problem.”
“Growing around [great musicians], you just can't help it. I identified with it immediately. It was something that was so natural to me that when I started singing, it was almost like speaking.”
“Being around people like Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack. . . had a great impact on me as a singer, as a performer, as a musician.”
