People hear the soul, black influence in my voice. I grew up listening to CKLW and all the black stations like WLBS.

My greatest teacher was not a vocal coach, not the work of other singers, but the way Tommy Dorsey breathed and phrased on the trombone.

It is Billie Holiday who was, and still remains, the greatest single musical influence on me.

After about three lessons [my] voice teacher said, "Don't take voice lessons. Do it your way. You're a song stylist. Always do it your way."

I stopped smoking. When I stopped smoking, my voice changed... so drastically, I couldn't believe it myself.

There's only one person in the United States we ever wanted to meet ... not that he wanted us. And we met him last night. We can't tell you how we felt. We just idolised him so much. ... You can't imagine what a thrill that was last night. Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles.