I was very inspired by my mother. She was a vocal teacher and sang in a band, and my first memories of her were going out with her on the local circuit.

The biggest honor of my career was when I won R&B Artist of the Year back in the 1970s. I look at that as a major honor.

Having a solo career is a funny thing.

I grew up in a very racially integrated place called Pottstown. It was an agricultural / industrial town which has since become a suburb of Philadelphia. I grew up basically in a black neighborhood.

I've seen the people who talk about their love lives in print invariably have doomed relationships with the person they're talking about.

It kind of sounds pretentious, but a film I find deeply romantic is 'Buffalo '66,' which is a film by Vincent Gallo. It's about how you break down all those barriers and expose yourself and open yourself up to ultimately being hurt.

The purpose of my life is being a father to my kids and being a husband to my wife.

Marriage is like life - it is a field of battle, not a bed of roses.