"If you can't go one way, there's many ways to get where you're going. So you just take a step back and see beyond the wall."

"I can't judge the way other people behave. I can only look at myself."

"It's that anonymous person who meanders through the streets and feels what's happening there, feels the pulse of the people, who's able to create."

"I learned jazz; that comes from blues. I learned rock; that comes from blues. I learned pop; that comes from blues. Even dance, that comes from blues, with the answer-and-response."

"My music is about a joyful experience. I've learned that if you can affect other people, you should."

"When I sing I don't feel like it's me. I feel I am fabulous, like I'm 10 feet tall. I am the greatest. I am the strongest. I am "Samson". I'm whoever I want to be."

"The '80s was a really creative and brave period. Remember, it was a period of ultraconservatism, and so you needed brave people to push ahead like that."

"I've always felt, even as a songwriter, that the rhythm of speech is in itself a language for me."

"Somebody did "complain "to me and tell me that my clothes were so loud they couldn't hear me sing."

"The more you practice and study, the better you are... so I still practice and study all the time."

"I don't have good business sense. You never get much money for the arts. But I like independence. I like to grow."

"What, do you think that feminism means you hate men?"

"Sometimes my mind boggles. It's so deep my mind actually boggles."

"I lucked out when I started to sing. I'd already experienced failing at everything else."

"If you saw me without makeup, you wouldn't recognize me."

"Just like I am obsessed with the history of fashion, I love reading about the history of makeup."

"When I got hoarse, the manager would say, 'Drink this. Joplin used to drink this,' and I used to say, 'Joplin? Joplin's dead."

"My mother said I was a little odd as a kid. I was alone a lot, but I didn't feel alone."

"Before I became famous I had a very full life, and that gave me a lot to pick from. I always use everything. It always comes in handy. Working with animals... Well, I just enjoyed that. That was the most peaceful time."

"Men and women are different. I don't think men grow a brain until 26 or even 30. Girls mature a lot quicker."

"Fame doesn't redeem you. It takes a long time to get there, and when you're finally there, you realise you still have authority figures telling you what to do."

"Sharon Osbourne is such a blast and she's so, so bright."

"I've got a Grammy and Emmy, I'd like to have a Tony."

"I'm in the business where you get the business all the time."