People tried to do a lot of stuff with me early in my career where they tried to shape me into one thing or another. They couldn't just take the chance and go with my vision - which was just my intuition, really.

I'm quite happy with the music carrying on. I've never been one to clamor for fame. It just got dumped in my lap. The ambition is definitely not fame. The ambition is to be creative.

The first time I knew what I wanted to do with my life was when I was about four years old. I was listening to an old Victrola, playing a railroad song...I thought that was the most wonderful, amazing thing...That you could take this piece of wax and music would come out of that box. From that day on, I wanted to sing on the radio.

When you're singing you can hear the echo of people in the audience singing every single word with you, and that was that big dream that I had for myself. It's happening.

From the beginning, I knew intuitively that if nothing else, music was safe, and that nobody could tell me anything about it. Music didn't need a middleman, whereas all the other things in school needed some kind of explanation.

I'm going to be a star, you know why? Because I have nothing left to lose.