I listen to anything anyone gives me. I always go back to a few basic favorites. I can always listen to Django Reinhardt and hear something I haven't heard before. I like to listen to Art Tatum and Coltrane and Charlie Parker. Those are guys who never seem to run out of ideas.

I want to be like Gandhi and Martin Luther King and John Lennon but I want to STAY ALIVE.

In fact, the Alejandro video...is a celebration of my love and appreciation for the gay community, my admiration of their bravery, and their love for one another, their courage in their relationships.

I just love working with Eminem. He's just one of my favorite rappers, and his lyrics - he's a true poet, and I enjoy that about him.

For years, I've had a hankering for the portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Duplessis. Franklin is credited with so many inventions: the postal system, lightning rods, the constitution. He was a rock star before there was such a thing.

My fans are who I am. You give meaning to my life. You will never know the connection I feel to you.