I've never been married, and I have no regrets about not starting my own family. I come from a large one, so there are so many people around all the time. I've been very happy, but I've never gotten married. That's about the size of it. I would have been a good father because I've been a father to my brothers' and sisters' children.

I was very fortunate to have a wonderful woman as my voice coach when I started singing professionally. I was only 19, so now it's been 60 years!

When you say, 'I'm going to sing it once, and everyone is going to hear it forever,' that's kind of frightening.

I go to the gym rather early with a workout pal. I get there at 7, or a little before, and do weights and a little cardio for an hour, five days a week.

For me, hearing my voice is sometimes a little nauseating, especially at Christmas.

As long as those things are on vinyl or tape or what have you, the record companies are going to release them someday.

I was a mediocre basketball player. But I was there, and I could remember the plays. And my basketball coach, after he retired from teaching, would come to my performances all the time. And I was very happy about that, because I was not memorable as a basketball player.

You know the secret to dunking a ball? Big hands. You've got to be able to palm it, and I couldn't.

The fact that I'm not a good musician - I throw it around, tell people that - it doesn't matter that much. It only matters to me, because I idolized good musicians. I absolutely worshiped them.

My music has always been enough.

It's always nice to hear people say, 'You sound the same,' when I know I don't.

When I do an album I try to find a producer that's excited about something that they want me to sing, and I check with the record company to find out what they think they can sell - which is their No. 1 priority.

I have one room off my kitchen filled with nothing but cookbooks and recipes that are sent to me from around the world. Every two years, I have to go through them and pick out ones to send to the local schools. There's a need for books, especially cookbooks.

I don't think about the future. It sort of will take care of itself; there's not really much that I can do other than fundamental things like taking care of my voice, keeping to my exercise routine, and getting some rest.

My mom loved my Christmas music, so I did an awful lot of it!

I met a guy on the golf course who was a kinesiologist - after I looked up the word, I found out it meant exercise. I started working with him, and that was many years ago.

The one who really captured me and became my absolute favorite was Nat King Cole. He was a genius at what he did. Most people don't realize what a great pianist he was. After listening to him for years, I finally met him, and he was the nicest human being.

I think most people don't understand: I have nothing to do with that. I just open my mouth, and it comes out that way.

I had stage fright for years and years, and I could hear it in my singing. But since I've done it so often for so many years, you'd think that I'd relax a little bit, and I think that I have.

I got an invitation to go to the Olympic trials. And in the same week, I got a telegram from a... big executive at Columbia Records.

I thought I sounded a little like Eartha Kitt for a long time, and I didn't like it.

I'd rather starve than not have what I really want to eat. I'm good at preparation.

Christmas is never going to go away, and it's always going to be there. And there's always room for one more Christmas song, I think.

I love the whole aspect of music, especially the singing; I never get tired of finding new songs to sing and sing them in a way that's interesting for the public.