My mother is an actress, and she used to drag me from theater to theater and reading to reading.

A lot of times I watch TV and I watch film and there's so many things I'd love to talk about that I feel don't get the opportunity to be shown. Sometimes things become very stereotypical and one-sided, and I feel like it's such a colorful world.

And I love kick boxing. It's a lot of fun. It gives you a lot of confidence when you can kick somebody in the head.

I believe Aids is the most important issue we face, because how we treat the poor is a reflection of who we are as a people.

I've always been strong-minded, but I wonder.

I would hate to make music and people love me for something that isn't me.

Simplicity makes me happy.

I'm very happy with my body.

Sometimes I've gotten photographs back and people have literally shaven off pieces of me, and I tell them to put it back.

Once people see this 'Unplugged,' I just want them to feel the spontaneity, to feel passionate... I want you to see another side of me, that's free, and feel where my head is, where whatever happens, happens. I want you to feel inspired.

I love my own music.

I'm not ashamed of what I am and that I have curves and that I'm thick, t like my body.

If I didn't love it, I would not record it.

My mom is definitely my rock.

It's not until I hear songs that I've done, that I realize how much of an inspiration music from the '60s and '70s has been.

I lived with my mom in a really small apartment. My bedroom was like in the living room. That's why I still love to sleep on couches now.

Soul music is timeless.

But when I first fell in love with the piano, I knew it was me. I was dying to play.

Adam Levine and I remade the Rolling Stones' classic Wild Horses, and it is right up my alley, that whole style. It has a style of its own but still stays very true to the classic arrangement, and I love it.

A Minor is one of my all-time favorite keys to play in. It's a very moody key, and also 'A' is the first letter of my name. It just represents the songs through my eyes.

Not because I'm trying to be fabulous, but I love those big crazy Jackie O shades.

I'm a very caring person.

When I was younger, studying classical music, I really had to put in the time. Three hours a day is not even nice - you have to put in six.

My mother is an actress, and she used to drag me from theater to theater and reading to reading.

I love the written word so much, I know it's gonna flow naturally.

I see what happens when one gets very attached to material things. That's just not what my life is.

I promised myself that I'd never actually admit to listening to New Kids on the Block.

If I want to be alone, some place I can write, I can read, I can pray, I can cry, I can do whatever I want - I go to the bathroom.

I really like to live my life in a low-key fashion.

I'd rather not have anything than be a liar.

Stevie Wonder's records introduced me to '70s soul when I was 12 or 13.

The last thing I want is to walk into my house after a long day and see all the Grammys and awards. It would make me feel weird.

I feel like B sides are always better, no matter whose record it is.

As a lyricist, you love to hear other great lyrics or other great concepts.

Failure isn't an option. I've erased the word 'fear' from my vocabulary, and I think when you erase fear, you can't fail.

For me, doing a show, the excitement of singing live, and the possibility that you're not gonna be perfect - that's the thrill of it.

From the beginning, I've had to juggle and weigh the silly things people say - and I've learnt that they're meaningless, and they're mostly inaccurate. So I don't worry about it, because there's nothin' for me to deal with.

I always want to stay focused on who I am, even as I'm discovering who I am.

I am able to hang with the hardest, the baddest, the worst, and I'm able to hang with the most proper and be at ease. I'm able to hang with any skin colour, any belief. I just fit in everywhere.

I believe in the limitlessness of humans. We're capable of incredible things. At times, that realization is frightening.

I definitely want to act, but I also want to score movies, and I have this idea to fuse classical music with other styles that would give it a different perception.

I don't dream - only if I'm uncomfortable or I'm going through something.

I don't have a ton of friends, but the friends I have are great ones. I don't have huge family, but the family I have is a great one.

I don't think even when you find a person, you can be completely honest, ever. There's still pieces of you that you don't give away. I do believe you always need that place where it's just you, your thoughts, no one else's judgment or anything.

I feel like the majority of the fear that I had or that we have we hold from other people. They're like people that we trust; they're their fears. All of a sudden we think that they're our fears.

I feel more like I'm a person who has so much to offer in different capacities that it would be a danger for me not to give myself a chance to spread my wings in all different directions.

I feel the presence of a higher power. I believe that what you give is what you get. It's universal law. I believe in the power of prayer and of words. I've learned that when you predict that negative things will happen, they do.

I fell in love with the piano. I knew it was me. I was dying to play.

I find myself to be truly primal and passionate. Everything I do comes from a primal place.