My parents are very competitive, so we are very competitive as kids. But it’s a good kind of competition; it’s not a jealousy. You always want to do your best, and if it can’t be...

We all have the need to feel special.

My brothers were gone on tour a lot, and I would miss them so much.

I feel everyone is put here for a reason. Everyone has a calling. I always thought my real calling was to help other people.

I’ve never been into what am I going to do next, trying to reinvent myself.

I don’t like to work out, and I get bored easily.

By age seven, I used to comb my hair for performances, just pull my hair up into a bun. Granted, it wasn’t a very intricate hairstyle. Still, to be that responsible and disciplined at age...

I’ve never been one for keeping a journal, so my songs were my journals. They allowed me to express my feelings and let people know what was going on with me. I knew that somebody...

I was never pushed into the religion by my mother or anyone else. I made up my own mind when I was old enough. I am not a religious person, but I am spiritual.

A lot of people who start work at a very young age never grow up because they never got that opportunity to be a child, so they hold on to that and still do a...

When I was younger, I thought you had to be in control of your own life. That takes a lot of discipline, hard work and focus. You just can’t let it all fall by the...

There are artists, true performers that have come before me who have been a big inspiration to me. I hope I do the same for others.

My first crush was Barry Manilow. He performed on TV and I taped it. When no one was around I’d kiss the screen.

Food has always brought me comfort and the bingeing is triggered when I’m in a space that is not positive.

I get so much energy from the fans.

If I wasn’t singing, I’d probably be, probably an accountant.

There’s other things I’d like to do. I probably won’t tour for a very, very long time. It’s something that you feel inside and that’s the way I’ve been looking at everything.

My concepts are never bright ideas; they’re never notions I think will sell or be trendy or attract new fans. I don’t think that way. All I can do is sing from my life.

You don’t have to hold onto the pain to hold onto the memory.

Another side to me is this very sexual being. When I look back on my life, it’s always been there. It’s been there since I was 10 years old, having the imagination that I had.

When I’m getting ready for a tour, I’ll work out with the dancers.

Being on ‘Good Times’ was the first time I was around a group of people that wasn’t my family.

I do think kids should be kids. You have the rest of your life to be an adult.

I kinda see everyone as competition.

When I gained weight in 2005, my nutritionist was very worried. I was close to having diabetes.

To have someone to relate to and hopefully enjoy the music and get a positive message out of it, to make the best music that we possibly could, those were the goals.

There are people that regardless of what it is, if it’s something that’s stressful, whatever it may be, they don’t eat, they lose a lot of weight, a divorce, they get real thin. I’m the...

I am the baby in the family, and I always will be. I am actually very happy to have that position. But I still get teased. I don’t mind that.

In 1977, at age ten, I was cast on the TV sitcom ‘Good Times.’ My character was Penny, an abused child in desperate need of love. I really didn’t want to do the show. I...

Control meant not only taking care of myself but living in a much less protected world. And doing that meant growing a tough skin.

I kinda see everyone as competition. I’m a very competitive person. But I think that’s good. Competition is great. And as long as it’s friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it’s cool.

I was two when we left Indiana, and I don’t really remember it that well.

I really don’t know anything else because my brothers were famous when I was two years old. So I know nothing else, no other life.

I think it’s been a little difficult at times for the audience, because they’ve told me they see me as a family member. So to see your little sister sing about sex… I think they...

You get used to working with one choreographer. You kind of get stuck in that vein and you work your way out of it, picking up someone else’s style, their flavor. It takes a bit...

When we were growing up, all of us kids were vegetarians. No one had asked me to stop eating meat – I just noticed everyone else around me had stopped, so I followed the crew.

It is my belief that we all have the need to feel special. It is this need that can bring out the best in us, yet the worst in us.

There is a moment when you get older when your metabolism slows down and you don’t feel like working out any more, so you don’t want to keep yourself fit any more, but that’s your...

I’m flattered that other artists consider me a role model.

Every body type is different – that’s what makes you unique. What makes you special is you, and you are different from the next person.

I’m a very competitive person. But I think that’s good.

I wanted to talk about my life. There is so much. I was 18 when I made the record, and I had a lot to say.

You can never be happy until you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

I always write my music based on what is going on in my life at the time.

All those songs reflect all the people that live within me.

To cut off the confusion and accept an answer just because it’s too scary not to have an answer is a good way to get the wrong answer.

Competition is great. And as long as it’s friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it’s cool.

We’re all driven to premieres or nightclubs and seen the rope separating those who can enter and those who can’t. Well, there’s also a velvet rope we have inside of us, keeping others from knowing...

I’m just trying to get used to living on a fixed income. Now, it’s going to get unfixed.

I have a pretty bad temper. But you have to really push me to see it. But everybody has their things.