I have never thought that the circumstance of God's having forgiven me was any reason why I should forgive myself.
I know no words of prayer - God help me because I can not help myself.
The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence.
I remember my manager telling me, 'Be myself, be humble, keep rooted, keep God first'. Those words were very helpful.
For me, living in the closet corroded my ability to have an honest, open relationship with my God, my loved ones, my constituency and myself.
It's interesting, though, that in daily life, I think of myself as being relatively unobservant.
I had to live and breathe Margaret Thatcher for a few months. I totally engulfed myself in her life. I read her autobiography and a biography, 'The Grocer's Daughter.'
I consider myself very lucky that I could live my life through all the ups and downs.
The extreme side of my personality, which I chose to sort of display, was snowballing and getting a life of its own. It was like looking in a mirror and not recognising myself.
I feel like I needed a balance. I don't want to forget about my personal life and spending time with myself.
What my first son James did was allow me to care for something in this world when I couldn't care for myself. James saved my life.
I don't consider myself a gangsta rapper. But I'm probably more qualified to be a gangsta rapper than people who call themselves that. I've been through that life.
My life is as an artist, not an entertainer. I don't consider myself an entertainer, but I can do that thing when I want to.
I laughed at Willie Nelson, wondering why he spends all his life on that tour bus. And I look at myself, and I'm sitting in airplanes half the time.
My only extravagance in life is my sailboat. I'm bonkers about that, but other than that, I don't spend money on myself.
I knew that if-God forbid-anything ever happened in my life, I needed to know how to take care of myself.
My whole life was writing, recording and touring over and over again. At some point I realised I wasn't enjoying myself any more.
I spent an awful lot of my life underestimating myself and, as a result, not exceeding my own expectations.
I said to myself, 'I've waited a long time in my life to have a child, and I'm missing it, I want to continue to have a career, but not this way.'
Serendipity is nice, but hoping for luck and the magic of happenstance shouldn't be an excuse for a lack of proactivity. I had to learn for myself that waiting isn't a life plan.
Getting on the bus and touring was my life. And when that was not around, I felt myself a bit lost at times, because that was all I had.
