The line between greatness and obscurity is very, very small.
— Peabo Bryson
There was a time in American history when almost every white person knew who Aretha Franklin was.
Music should probably provide answers in terms of lyrical content, and giving people a sense of togetherness and oneness, as opposed to being alone in their thoughts and dilemmas or regrets or happiness or whatever.
I think you create your own hipness.
I'd sing with Roberta Flack in a taxi if you called up and said she'd be in it.
I never want to fake it. That's my whole thing.
I mean, on the food chain, do instruments really rate? I don't think so.
I'm not angry at anyone.
There weren't any white people in this country who didn't know who Gladys Knight was. Or the Pips were, as far as that's concerned.
If you think about it, everything we do in life is set to some kind of music.
Trends don't mean very much.
It doesn't mean that I won't be sexy or hip or anything like that.
I'm having fun just being a musician as well as an artist at this point.
I have to choose songs that represent my personality.
I like that sense of we're all on the same page and trying to get the job done.
If you think about it, Aretha did basically the same things that I do.
Every significant event that takes place in our lives is set to some kind of music.
For me, the other thing is not just a strong sense of spirituality.
I adore being with Roberta. I adore being in her spiritual light. I adore being close to her talent and gifts.
In the last couple of years I've been picking up my guitar again.
If you have a Stradivarius and nobody to play it, it's just a Stradivarius. Or is it even that? It's nothing.
Life is too short to harbor any hostilities towards anybody.
