A lot of my success comes from black music. It's something I'm very proud of.
A lot of the greatest compositions were made famous by Sinatra.
As a young kid, I listened to Ray Charles. I went to the Beach Boys concerts. The Beatles, Stones, I loved them.
Black music has increased my enjoyment of what I do. It has increased my range, my ability to reach into myself and accept myself.
Considering the amount of information we're bombarded by, it's amazing if a song can transcend time.
Dr. King is so inspiring, so impressive, so moving as a human being.
For years I've kept a list of dream projects.
I have friends who've tried to break into the UK, who went back with their tails between their legs. Fortunately I've had the opposite experience.
I have only been able to write something I feel, turn it from a thought into a full song, cut it and find a good home for it.
I have to be happy in the here and now because every time you start focusing on your legacy you're really setting yourself up for disappointment.
I just feel like the best I can do is step up to the microphone, sing something I can get my vocal teeth into. That must be how Lennox Lewis feels when he gets into the ring. That's my domain. And you can't make everybody love what you do, but you can know how great you feel doing it.
I kept looking to do songs that were written years ago and would live or outlive all of us, and the one thing they had in common was Sinatra.
I love songwriting. It's second to my love for singing in how I express myself.
I thank God that I can give something back. You can use your success to make a statement. It's a way of showing gratitude and acknowledging what's really important.
I think most of the great producers are also songwriters. They understand the content, the craft.
I was blown away by the control and the range that I was hearing. I'm listening to Pavarotti and thinking, What the hell have I been doing with my voice all these years?
I'd have tears running from my eyes listening to the power of these operatic pieces, and the voices that committed themselves to being an instrument for the composers who created them.
I'd like to write again with Bob Dylan. I have some ideas, and I'd love to work with him, at least lyrically.
I'm proud of my mentors. Ray Charles is the strongest influence on me as a singer.
If you take care of your voice and have the good fortune of having enough success for a certain period of time, you can continue doing what you love to do.
In this constant battle for success, competition, business, it's tough just to make a living, to continue at a certain level.
It's a combination of melody and lyrics, not one without the other. It's a confluence of these different elements that makes something powerful.
It's an important thing to remember where you came from.
It's that music that got you on the map. Then you have to find the right material to keep you there.
It's understanding the intention of a composer that allows a producer and an arranger to make those moments speak.
My grandmother was born in Leeds - I was happy to be accepted here. The British invasion completely won me over.
No matter how great we get with digital formats of instrumentation, nothing really quite duplicates the real thing.
One song will launch you, but you don't want to be a one-song artist.
Sinatra, here's a guy who plays a tough guy in all his movies, but was allowed to be vulnerable when he stepped up to the microphone.
Someone told me there was a publisher that could find a good home for my songs, but I didn't want to give up my pursuit of a career in the business as an artist.
The bigger you are, the harder they come down on you.
The energy level I was looking for would only come from live brass and the luxurious part of it, which was the live string section.
The music speaks to various ages. It makes the show a whole lot of fun.
The Top 40 is geared toward 20 and under, not 20 and up. That's the audience I'm geared to.
The U.K. was my biggest market outside of the U.S. I sold over 5 million albums in the U.K. It's why I came back so many times.
The whole industry evolves around a great song.
There are a lot of great singers and artists out there, but the one thing that's missing from their career is a great song.
There are a lot of people who have been married more than once and who have found love more than once.
There are certain people who have become better artists, but they're brilliant at marketing. I think someone who's been phenomenal like that is Madonna.
There was a time that no one knew me as an artist. They just knew me as a songwriter. I guess people are surprised.
There's a reason Billie Holiday cut these songs, as well as Sinatra, Rod Stewart and Diana Krall.
These songs were written in a better place and time. They seem like they were written in this place of romantic innocence. They're songs that have already outlived most of their composers.
Time works against you in this kind of career - there's someone sitting on the bench who's a little better, a little faster. If you do take care of your voice, and you have the good fortune of having enough success for a certain period of time, you can continue doing what you love to do.
Time works against you in this kind of career. There' someone sitting on the bench who's a little better, a little faster.
To sing along with Stevie Wonder, you had to make your voice do things it was not accustomed to doing.
Vocalists all have a different way of expressing themselves.
We used to call it recurrent airplay when someone had a hit.
What is it that gives a song infinite life, infinite breath?
When I hear a great song, I don't need to have a pat on the back as the songwriter. I would rather sing it first.
When I started studying for the arias it was like going into training for a heavyweight title fight.
When I was invited to sing with Pavarotti, I had about two weeks to learn Italian.
When you have great songs that are going to live longer than the composers, everything you can do to bring those different elements and nuances out, serve the song.
Whoever best serves the song is going to be served by the song.
With the internet, things are so much more immediate. People taste-test things to see if they want to buy the CD.
You can't make everybody love what you do, but you can know how great you feel doing it.
You have a sense of responsibility, and for me that means keeping my voice in shape.
You're presuming too much by using the word legacy - presuming that someone is going to care.
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