I once got asked in an interview: 'Does it annoy you that the majority of your fans are teenage girls?' I was insulted and angry because it was sexist and ageist.

The worst date I've been on was in L.A. with this guy I didn't want to be on a date with - he was just trying to take me to all these places and impress me but it was so cheesy.

My first real foray into fashion was the discovery of vintage. Vintage dresses really suit my body type, so the discovery was both wonderfully eye-opening and liberating.

Forgiving yourself will help with giving yourself strength.

I've been able to help my family financially since making my first hit record. I bought my parents a house. My husband and I have a property in Portugal and one in Mumbles, Wales, and my family are always coming out to visit us. It has been fantastic to have such a successful career and to have been able to help everyone.

Everything family does is reflection on the other people.

My mom, Clida, taught my four brothers and me about her father's work to organize black voters in rural Louisiana in the 1950s. We carried her dad's legacy of activism with us. The Civil Rights Movement was present in the daily life of my family in Detroit in the 1970s.

I remember, as a child, wanting all the time to buy my parents presents. I stood around forlornly in fancy shops, unable to afford a single thing.