I’m used to getting up at 7, getting breakfast, getting the kids off to school, and doing the mommy thing and the wife thing and the daughter thing.

You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family.

We don’t do drugs, drink or use profanity. Instead we instill morals and values in my boys by raising them with a love of God and a love and respect for themselves and all people....

It’s impossible to write and produce a record when your parents are dying. I really tried, I really, really tried, but it just wouldn’t come.

I made numerous attempts to find a way to do it all, to be a creative singer, songwriter, producer, and to be the mother, daughter, sister, lover, wife. And the thing about music is, with...

I would say that my peak was making my first million at the ripe age of 29, after the first album.

Most artists are notoriously insecure, and I fall into that category.

If you have your own agenda and your own style and you don’t easily conform to what the masses are doing, you’re looked upon as being difficult. Whereas, I think of it as just being...

Time has nothing to do with the gifts that the gods give you; it’s what you do.

Typically, the theme of my albums, if there is a theme, is, ‘How does it feel?’ And that always leads to love songs. It just does.

Applause felt like approval, and it became a drug that soothed the pain, but only temporarily.

Long tresses down to the floor can be beautiful, if you have that, but learn to love what you have.

When you’re away for a long time, tastes change, fans move on. You hate to think about it, but it’s an ugly fact of life.

As soon as you get off stage, that’s the most dangerous time for a singer to kiss people because your vocal chords are receptive to any kind of germ.

Chris Brown is brilliant. That cat is crazy brilliant, and I wish him the best.

I don’t even have voice mail, and people get all out of shape about that. But, you know what, I don’t want to transcribe your message; I want to talk to you. And that kind...

I think there’s no sacrifice too great for family, whether it’s career, singing, whatever.

Historically, in my generation, all of my heroes and heroines have had issues and problems. We all do.

I love radio, but it’s a very limited thing today. Everything has to be edited down to 3:59, and too bad if I didn’t make my statement in three minutes and 59 seconds. Everybody’s song...

My father worked on assembly lines in Detroit while I was growing up. Every day, I watched him do what he needed to do to support the family. But he told me, ‘Life is short....

I need my career. That’s what validates me.

I have as many pictures of my vocal cords as I do of my children. I have a great ear, nose and throat doctor, and we look at them – if there’s some redness, maybe...

I don’t let people use me. That’s why I like a small number of people in my life. The more people in my life, the more complex it becomes, so I just try to keep...

I used to sing at funeral homes for families that didn’t have a vocalist. I didn’t get paid. I needed to sing.

I say if it’s going to be done, let’s do it. Let’s not put it in the hands of fate. Let’s not put it in the hands of someone who doesn’t know me. I know...

I’m picking and choosing in terms of the stress factor. If it’s not fun, I’m not going to do it.

I would make far more money if every song were my own, but I don’t write to fill up the album with my songs.

If I could be doing anything, I’d be laying on the floor in my birthday suit eating junk food and watching something dumb on TV.

I don’t think being black has held me back at all. Being black makes you strong.

I’d love to be the political voice of my generation, but that’s not my gift.

Completeness? Happiness? These words don’t come close to describing my emotions. There truly is nothing I can say to capture what motherhood means to me, particularly given my medical history.

Oh my goodness, they are rocking so many variations of my high-top fade. I mean, Rihanna has taken it to a very angular 21st Century thing. Miss Fantasia has it in a very seductive, you...