There are lots of artists I respect and admire.

Whenever I've collaborated with anyone in the past it's just happened really, I've never actively sought it out.

I'm not the sort of person who if everyone thinks you're fabulous you thrive on it.

Fame made me insecure and insular. I wanted to run away from being me.

I've always been political but I don't like to bring it into my work any more because I think it limits me.

Let's face it, I have a fun job at the end of the day.

Probably because the first two albums were so successful, we got a little bit smug.

In terms of the production, the style I use is what I see as the 'Lisa Stansfield sound' and I would hope that when anyone puts on one of my songs they don't even have to listen to my voice to know this is a Lisa Stansfield song, because of the way it sounds.

I know I idolise someone like Billie Holiday, but I don't look at her and think I have to imitate her lifestyle, to try and sing like she did.

I absolutely loved it in Ireland.

I gave up everything and nearly became a farmer, walking around in headscarf and wellies for 10 years to find my confidence again.

I'm a singer. I'm a musician. I'm a writer. Maybe - I don't know - I couldn't give a child what it needed.

I started to sing professionally when I was about 13 or 14.

In Europe, I do see a lot of women who were fans years ago bring their daughters and sons to shows and that's how my music gets passed down, and I love that.

People thought I disappeared, but I never went away. Music has always been a priority.

Singers like Gladys Knight are mostly responsible for how I learned to sing.

I think I popped out of the womb singing Diana Ross.

I always remember when I first started out and first became a little bit famous, I went to a celebrity party. For me it was really intimidating.

Well, I always leave massive gaps between albums.

One of the only things I've regretted was saying yes to a TV special, 'Motown Mania,' and I said I'll sing you a Diana Ross song. It was just naff.

Honestly, I think if you don't have happiness and you don't have love in your life you can have all the money and all the symbols in the world and it won't make any difference.

You never know what to expect in life, so just roll with the punches and make the most of it. Because you've only got one life and you may as well have a really lovely time. And try not to hurt anybody on the way.

I've got a good imagination, so I can see someone arguing over a parking ticket and imagine they're getting a divorce or something.

You know, Rochdale is a really nice place, but it's not the most interesting place on the planet.

I was really skinny and I had greasy hair and I was knock-kneed. There's something still in me that's like that, and I catch myself, you know when you're walking or something, and you think, 'Oh no, you're still that drippy person.'

I was the first white British woman to reach No 1 on the R&B chart - the American black music chart.

I go through phases with money. I'll spend it liberally and then I'll panic and won't spend anything.

Having money hasn't made me any happier. There are some negatives associated with it too, like having to be away from home when you don't want to be.

If there's one thing I wish I'd done differently it would be to have invested money in property.

The power of music is a wonderful thing. It can make us happy, make us cry. It can make us forget and make us remember.

People get trapped sometimes and they don't feel they have a voice. And if you can in some way help someone by writing a song, it's really lovely.

As a rule I start the day with a delicious health cocktail which includes soya protein powder, porridge oats, water, vitamin C, sunflower seeds and honey, plus Dr Udo's Ultimate Oil Blend for all the essential fatty acids your body needs.

For a sore throat I take arnica, just a tiny pill dissolved under my tongue. And because your throat is like a muscle, I keep mine warm drinking herbal teas, usually camomile.

I work out with weights, do yoga and run on the treadmill at the gym.

I've never been a twerking kind of girl. I've always relied on my talent.

I'm like two different people. The way I sing comes from the music I listened to when I was younger, from black American R&B singers. My speaking voice is something else. It's what my mum and dad taught me.

It's good to write about love because it never goes out of fashion. And I'm quite a romantic.

Manchester has always been a massively innovative city, loads of great scientific findings have come from Manchester. The first computer in the world was there and took up a whole building. So Manchester has always been very innovative.

I always really loved soul music but all my friends were into the new romantic scene. I'd go to new romantic clubs and then go home and listen to soul music. I was sort of ashamed of listening to disco and soul music!

People come up to me and sing, 'Been around the world and I-I-I-I... ' all the time.

If you are a soul singer, you are a soul singer. If you are a heavy metal singer, then you are a heavy metal singer. What's color got to do with it? I don't go around thinking, 'I sing soul music and I'm white.' I just sing the way I feel.

You don't hear that much about me being a white and singing soul music in England, but I get the feeling that in America it's really a big thing. It's like, 'God, look at the color of her skin.'

I love acting, but I've always prioritized my music.

I think we all suffer the same pain, all feel the same happiness, and we all have the same emotions within us.

My life isn't very racy or exciting so I make things up, tell stories. I like telling stories.

For me, learning how to sing was just like learning how to speak.

Love's been here from the beginning of time, and life would be very boring without it.

You want what you write to be essential.

I think that if you hear music young, whatever music you hear influences you. I'm white, but I've been influenced by black music.

Business people want things to be safe but that's rubbish to me. In music nothing should be safe.