You can't fake this music. You might be a great singer or a great musician but, in the need, that's got nothing to do with it. It's how you connect to the songs and to the history behind them.

I sing the songs that people need to hear.

It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them.

You've got to separate the singer and the songs.

They said that Etta James is still vulgar. I said, Oh, how dare them say I'm still vulgar. I'm vulgar because I dance in the chair. What would they want me to do? Want me to just be still or something like that? I've got to do something.

You got nothing to lose. You don't lose when you lose fake friends.