I just got into Mike Tyson. My security people kept saying, 'Haven't you seen him yet?' Well, I finally did, and he's got a real knockout punch.
— Aretha Franklin
You cannot define a person on just one thing. You can't just forget all these wonderful and good things that a person has done because one thing didn't come off the way you thought it should come off.
I loved going to church. I enjoyed being a part of the choir and just doing things in and around the church. But as a young girl, I certainly enjoyed watching and listening to my dad.
Everybody wants respect. In their own way, three-year-olds would like respect, and acknowledgment, in their terms.
I guess I could've been a prima ballerina. Or a nurse. Aretha Nightingale!
President Bush bestowed the Congressional Medal on myself.
People really don't have to give you anything, so appreciate what people give you.
My American audiences are pretty mixed. I get all sorts of people, old and young. It's nice.
I paid my dues; I certainly did.
Intermittently in my concert format, I sing a little jazz, a little scatting.
He was definitely an original and a one-of-a-kind. Truly there was only one Prince.
Columbia was a wonderful label for me. Wonderful. The records I made there garnered me an audience. I won a number of polls during the years that I was at Columbia. The Downbeat Jazz Poll. Leonard Feather, who was a huge critic back in the day, different polls that he had. The Playboy poll, a number of polls. So the music was great.
I like Beyonce's music - some of it, not all of it.
I was in my dad's church, his Baptist church, and I think the first song I ever performed was 'Jesus Be a Fence Around Me.'
I love all music.
I used to have hamburgers coming and going, especially when I was on the road. Now, occasionally I will still have that quarter pounder because I love fast food, but you have to keep it to a minimum. I am now opting for salads and just healthier lunches.
Parents have to really talk to their children before they leave home.
I love Wal-Mart, and not just because my record is there. You can get some things there that you cannot find at Saks or Bergdorf's or other upscale stores.
I had not been in the jazz environment, having been brought up in the church. But once I got to New York, and I was signed to perform at The Village Gate and the Vanguard and clubs like that, and these - the Vanguard was one of the most elite, if not the most elite, jazz club out there.
Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.
I don't think I was a catalyst for the women's movement.
It's very satisfying. To perform the way you want to. And the way you know that you can.
I've done the Kennedy Center many times. I've sang for Marian Anderson. I've sang for Marion Williams. I've sang for Lionel Hampton.
My generation, we came along, we had to really know our craft.
I like writing and don't confine myself to just the words or just the music. But I don't particularly write songs with myself in mind.
We didn't have music videos. You weren't an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error.
Well, Babyface brings his savoir faire to every project. He's a very easy producer to work with, very detailed in listening to everything.
Prince is gone. But the music will go on.
I love producing, writing. I rarely write with other writers unless I have a real great respect for them. Like Burt Bacharach, or Carole Sager, or Stevie Wonder. Somebody like Smokey - like that. Otherwise, I choose to write alone.
I don't feel one's personal medical condition is everybody's business. It just isn't something you advertise, and it's not open to discussion.
I remember singing around the house to records that were playing. All kinds of music. And the great James Cleveland was often in our house, and I grew up with his sound as well.
I came up in gospel.
I go to the healthier foods that are less chemically treated. I am drinking lots of water to get rid of the toxins in my body. It's a natural flushing. Water flushes your system and is also very good for your skin.
Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you're doing. If you're not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.
The love of my life? I'm much too young to answer that question.
As a very small girl, I listened to Charlie Parker and loved him and Max Roach and people like that.
There's a lot of great singers out here.
Ariana Grande - I like her a lot.
President Clinton, I sang at his post-inauguration party out in Maryland.
Gospel goes with me wherever I go. Gospel is a constant with me.
I'm not ever going to retire. That's - that wouldn't be good, for one, just to go somewhere and sit down and do nothing. Please. No, that's not moi.
I think women and children and older people are the three least-respected groups in our society.
It's easy for a singer to sometimes pick up on another singer's sound, but that's just copying.
I haven't had the occasion to meet Adele. She lives in England. So when I'm flying, or when she comes over here, perhaps we'll have a chance. I think she's a very fine singer, a very strong writer and performer.
I've been around long enough for people to know who I am and what my contributions are. They know me as more than just an artist. I think they know me as a woman as well.
Politics are not my arena. Music is.
We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right.
I love 'Anne of Green Gables.' I have for years. That's one of my favourite things. She's such a can-do kind of girl; that's why I'm crazy about her.
Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening.
When God loves you, what can be better than that?
