I would love to be able to say that due to my experience in the music industry, when it comes to the songs, I'm killing it over anybody else, but that is not the case. Everybody in this thing is ridiculously talented to where I don't feel special.

Growing up in Vegas, over time you get to see shows like Tom Jones, Wayne Newton, I mean, The Rat Pack ran Vegas way, way back, and I'm a huge fan of that whole era and vibe.

'Let Me Love You' is about being brave enough to let a person get close enough to you to teach you how to love yourself, to teach you the importance of loving yourself.

I would've given my right arm to do something on the 'Ray' film, the movie about Ray Charles.

I needed to be sexier. I needed to be more hip. I needed to be more edgy and this and that. 'No, don't write that kind of song, write this type of song. No, don't work with that producer, work with this producer. No, don't wear those clothes, wear these clothes.' And I didn't want to be a puppet, you know?

My initial attraction to 'Red Tails' was the opportunity to play a character that was not me. 'Stomp the Yard' was a great film, but I played myself there.

Chimere's not mine. That hurt 'cause I had attached myself to this guy, you know. This is my son. I'm looking at him, and I'm picturing I'm gonna be old, and he's gonna be - this is my son! It's not my son.

One of the very few things that I actually read about myself on blogs that got to me was people saying, 'Ne-Yo doesn't do R&B music anymore.' Just because I stepped off the porch to explore doesn't mean I don't live in that house anymore.

I sing because I love singing. I perform because I love performing. I write because I actually enjoy writing.

I am blessed to be doing what I do. So if I have to be at a photo shoot, do an interview, or make a TV appearance, I am not going to sit around whining and complaining about how I don't want to get up early or I don't feel like talking.

'Stomp the Yard' was a great film. It was a great film, great opportunity. It's the reason I live in Atlanta to this day, that film. But as far as acting goes, it wasn't very challenging. I played me.

There are a lot of great artists with great voices who aren't singing what they should be singing.

I thank my dad for leaving me such a wonderful, wonderful heritage.

I love what I do so much. I just keep going. Not much can bring me down.

The dialysis is to wash my blood, to keep my kidneys functioning.

Even when I had no money, I spent everything I had on clothes.

We have to stop rewarding bad behavior.

People say I look younger than the music I'm doing just because the songs are older. Hopefully I can keep my youthful look!

I like to grow and experiment, and as an artist, it's about kicking the bar up a little.

When you reach 50, what you care about is being honest, being accurate, and being an example.

There were so many groups that I had in college, but I was always the solo singer. But what made it so unusual back in the day was that I was a black girl playing with all these white musicians, and I was also singing rock music on top of it.

I think people hear the warmth in my voice and the friendliness, and they think: 'Oh, she must be a very nice person'.

I get hugs all the time from strangers. I do believe that people can feel your persona when you perform live, but it is one of the nicest things if you can translate that on your records.

I didn't realize I was still grieving for my father at 30-something.