'Doo-wop' is a very special word for me. Because I grew up listening to my dad who, as a Fifties rock & roll head, loved doo-wop music.
My dad is my biggest source of inspiration. He's a lawyer, and when he'd get home, we always sat down and listened to music.
I liked a lot of the things other people liked - Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Van Halen, AC/DC - but if I compared it to my dad's music, there just seemed to be elements missing.
I wanted to take up music, so my father bought me a blunt instrument. He told me to knock myself out.
My grandmother would sing in the choir, while my dad - while he was in college - sang and recorded with a quartet. So yeah, it was definitely my dad's Southern side that impacted on me musically.
I was always going to make music, but I cleaned up my act a lot just to be a good dad and a husband. That sort of changed my career professionally, too.
One of my insecurities was my looks. I was short, cute and chubby, and Dad used to call me his 'little fat sausage.' But I always knew I had musical talent.
Death is the king of this world: 'Tis his park where he breeds life to feed him. Cries of pain are music for his banquet.
I like having my hair and face done, but I'm not going to lose weight because someone tells me to. I make music to be a musician not to be on the cover of Playboy.
Dreams do come true, even for someone who couldn't speak English and never had a music lesson or much of an education.
Fogs are like dreams that feed the soul, and without their mysterious embrace, childhood, courtship, poetry and the composition of music become all the more difficult.
When my mother had four girls, and she could tell her marriage was falling apart, she went back to college and got her degree in music and education.
When I left South Africa in 1960 I was 20 years old. I wanted to try to get an education, and music education was not available for me in South Africa.
The country experience was more of a departure. When you consider my education and my upbringing, you can see that was more of country rock outgrowth of my popular music aspirations.
When I was four years old, my mother put me into a school for early music education where you get perfect pitch and harmony and composition.
Honestly, my favorite kind of dancing is just lettin' loose. There's something great about the carefree flinging of your body to great music. It can be so joyous.
I remember singing around the house to records that were playing. All kinds of music. And the great James Cleveland was often in our house, and I grew up with his sound as well.
I take a baths all the time. I'll put on some music and burn some incense and just sit in the tub and think, Wow, life is great right now.
All my momma's people were very musical. My grandpa, who was the Pentecostal minister, he was a great musician. He played the fiddle, he played the piano.
I have a vision of artists putting into film, drama, literature, music, and paintings great themes and great characters from the Book of Mormon.
I've talked about sex a great deal in my music for a great while now. I feel very comfortable with it.
