I felt bad about the controversy because they stopped playing my songs on American radio stations. But there was nothing wrong with what I did. Now everybody sings the national anthem the way they want.

My parents did not want us to lose our culture and our language. And that was a good thing.

When I did the anthem, I did it with the understanding in my heart and mind that I did it because I'm a patriot. I was trying to be a grateful patriot. I was expressing my feelings for America when I did the anthem my way instead of just singing it with an orchestra.

When I first heard Bob Dylan, I'll be honest, I didn't like him. But I was shallow of mind and didn't understand the poetry. I just judged him on his singing and his guitar playing.

My first memory of playing music was when I was 3 years old in Puerto Rico. I played percussion on a tin can behind my uncle, who played the cuatro.

I was very, very fortunate that 'Chico and the Man' was on TV, that helped me quite a bit. Of course, having the No. 1 Christmas song in the Spanish market, 'Feliz Navidad,' doesn't hurt either.

I loved John Lennon, by the way.

To me, my guitar has always been my orchestra.

It is always good to make new friends.

We are all beautiful in our own individual and special ways.

I hate re-recording. I like singing, but I don't like recording a song over and over, making it too perfect.

I started singing when I was 8, and then when I was 11, I started writing my first songs.

When I am writing music, I sometimes envision a video playing alongside.

I say what I'm feeling, and a lot of people feel the same way.

My songs are classics.

I like to write about what I've seen and experiences I've been through.

I come from quite a creative family; everyone's just doing their own thing!

When I'm writing, I'll just say random stuff that doesn't make sense, and then a certain word that I keep saying will stick out, and I'll write from there.

I like being someone else. 'A Prince' is not about me, but I can pretend for the three minutes of the track. It's great being able to do that, 'cos I enjoy telling stories.

I get loads of messages from people telling me they've been helped through some bad relationship when they've listened to my song. That's what I want to do.

I want to be a voice people listen to and feel good or sad or whatever.

I like live-sounding things.

I like a performance, a live performance, so I like little mistakes because that's what makes perfect - the mistakes.

When I'm writing, I like to have a tiny bit of fact and then exaggerate it and turn it into something more people could relate to.